Krueger enjoys quick triathlon success

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This article was published 11/07/2023 (1171 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anja Krueger isn’t a household name yet but she could be on her way.

The 20-year-old East St. Paul product made a splash during her debut on the Americas Triathlon Cup circuit on Saturday, earning a third-place finish at an event in Montreal.

Krueger’s time of 58 minutes, 23 seconds to complete the Olympic course was only eight seconds behind winner Erica Hawley of Bermuda and one second behind second-place finisher Maira Carreau of La Prairie, Que.

The podium finish was the culmination of her recent training.

“I was very nervous about the swim and the bike and getting into a good pack,” Krueger said Monday. “I think the bike has been the biggest thing that I’ve been working on since I got home and started training for triathlon consistently. So this was where I was going to see how much of that work paid off and where I was compared to these girls. And so I was definitely surprised how well that part went.”

Krueger might have finished on top of the podium if not for a few glitches in the transitions between the swim, bike and running legs.

“Anja was 12 seconds behind leaving the transitions and so she spent all her energy making up that 12 seconds and then got lost in the sprint,” said Triathlon Manitoba head coach Gary Pallett. “That’s just a result of her being in her first race and you’ve gotta go through those transitions (and learn). There’s just so many things in triathlons that can go wrong.”

Krueger, who earned a silver medal in women’s triathlon at the 2022 Canada Summer Games, only made a full-time commitment to the sport earlier this year after spending the previous two seasons on a swimming scholarship at the University of British Columbia.

“After Canada Games that really got me thinking about what my future was in sport and I just felt that my heart wasn’t in swimming as it had been before,” she said. “And to go into triathlon and have such quick success and so much fun, I just started to kind of feel (it) was more of my passion than swimming was.”

The career change also means Krueger will be transferring to the University of Victoria this fall where she will be training at Triathlon Canada’s National Performance Centre.

Before that, she’ll race in Saturday’s Americas Cup event in Long Beach, Calif., and another tour event in Edmonton on July 26 with the intention of qualifying for the team that will represent Canada at the U23 world championships in Pontevedra, Spain, Sept. 22-24.

Triathlon Canada will name the team going to worlds next month.

“I’m still pretty new to the back-to-back racing, but I’ve definitely been preparing really well all summer and I think that my fitness is there,” said Krueger. “And as long as I pay attention to recovering well and training properly over the next week, I should be ready to go.”

While Krueger is aiming to reach the world championships, 19-year-old Winnipegger Blake Harris is also making his mark.

Harris, the world’s No. 11-ranked junior men’s competitor, arrived in Hamburg on Sunday in preparation for this week’s World Junior Championships in Germany.

One of four Canadians in the field, Harris has been training in Tempe, Ariz., and more recently at altitude in Park City, Utah in preparation for Thursday’s race.

“I’m not thinking too much of going in with a set result in my mind,” said Harris. “I’m just going to go and race it as best as I can and see how it plays out. I’ve raced some older, more senior fields but never a full junior field like this. I don’t have a set number in my head but definitely want to do well and I’m going to do my best to make that happen.”

Harris will have the benefit of the mentorship of Oak Bluff’s Tyler Mislawchuk, who is also in Hamburg to compete in this week’s World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships.

Harris plans to continue to learn from the experience of Mislawchuk, a two-time Olympian.

“I’m definitely talking to Tyler a lot,” said Harris “When I was in Montreal (earlier this month) he was there as well for another race and I’ve spent quite a bit of time around him.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14