What a week in Kelowna! The Triathlon events at the BC Summer Games wrapped up with sunburns, PBs, and a whole lot of proud zone coaches, and we could not be happier with how it all came together.
First, the shoutouts that matter most. Sport Chair Cory Krist ran an absolutely incredible event from start to finish, the kind of seamless, well-organized triathlon event that makes it look easy even though we all know it isn’t. Massive thanks also to the Kelowna Triathlon Club for the volunteer strength they gave behind the scenes, and to the Sarsons Beach community for welcoming a huge group of amped-up young triathletes, their families, and a small army of coaches onto their beach for the weekend.
And yes, we have to talk about the weather, because it was the story for about 24 hours. Smoke rolled in and made Thursday a rough one; an AQHI of 10+… That put some additional nerves on everyone. But like clockwork, the skies cleared and the rest of the weekend delivered exactly what Kelowna is famous for: blue skies, hot temps, and perfect conditions for racing.
The Coaching Crew
The coaching crew was led by Kristine Chambers, a North Vancouver based coach with a long list of accolades to her name. In 2001 she founded Exceleration Triathlon and Multisport Club in Vancouver, and has coached athletes from grassroots development all the way to the Olympic level. In 2023 she received the Sport BC Daryl Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award for her long-term contribution to amateur sport in BC, and she’s also been recognized in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame’s In Her Footsteps exhibit for her work growing sport for girls and women. Kristine is a powerhouse in the Triathlon coaching realm, and served as a mentor coach for the BC Games.
The full coaching team:
Kootenays Zone: Shelby Lehmann (Head Coach), Kevin Bessey (Support Crew)
Thompson-Okanagan Zone: Martin Courtenay (Head Coach), Jennifer James (Assistant Coach), Avery Deis (Assistance Coach)
Fraser Valley Zone: Kristine Chambers (Head Coach), Hannah Wise (Assistant Coach)
Fraser River Zone: Jennifer Dawkins (Head Coach)
Vancouver-Coastal Zone: Felix Stock (Head Coach), Megan Johnston (Assistant Coach)
Vancouver Island-Central Coast Zone: Ember Bruszkowski (Head Coach), Jack Screen (Assistant Coach), Chelsea Condly (Support Crew)
Cariboo-North East Zone: Kristopher Hildebrand (Head Coach), Cecilia Peter (Coach MOM)
Standout Athletes
A few names showed up on the podium over and over this weekend.
Boys
Ari Stamhuis (Victoria, Vancouver Island-Central Coast Zone 6) was the man of the meet: he was a powerhouse in all four individual events and medaled in every single one, taking gold in the Aquathlon, F1 Triathlon, and Super Sprint Triathlon, plus bronze in the Duathlon. Incredible!
Axel Martin (North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone 5) wasn’t far behind, medaling in three events: gold in the Duathlon, silver in the F1 Triathlon and Super Sprint Triathlon, and narrowly missing the podium with a fourth place in the Aquathlon.
Girls
Gabrielle Reid (Garibaldi Highlands, Vancouver-Coastal Zone 5) was the model of consistency on the women’s side, podiuming in all four individual events: silver in F1 Triathlon, bronze in the Super Sprint Triathlon, Duathlon, and Aquathlon. Way to go Gabbi!
Natalie Gan (Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone 5) put together a standout weekend too, taking gold in the Aquathlon, gold in the F1 Triathlon, and silver in the Super Sprint Triathlon!
Podium Results
Aquathlon
Male
- Ari Stamhuis – Victoria, Vancouver Island-Central Coast Zone – 8:05.6
- Johannes Salchner – North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 8:42.5
- Harper Sidloski – Kelowna, Thompson-Okanagan Zone – 8:48.8
Female
- Mia Bruneau – Surrey, Fraser River Zone – 8:30.9
- Natalie Gan – Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 8:50.4
- Gabrielle Reid – Garibaldi Highlands, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 9:07.5
Duathlon
Male
- Axel Martin – North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 16:45.8
- Haydn Davies – Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 17:09.4
- Ari Stamhuis – Victoria, Vancouver Island-Central Coast Zone – 17:10.9
Female
- Yvonne Hayden – Naramata, Thompson-Okanagan Zone – 18:54.5
- Cameron Neville – Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 18:57.2
- Gabrielle Reid – Garibaldi Highlands, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 18:59.9
F1 Triathlon
Male
- Ari Stamhuis – Victoria, Vancouver Island-Central Coast Zone – 13:21.4
- Axel Martin – North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 13:57.6
- Johannes Salchner – North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 13:59.8
Female
- Natalie Gan – Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 14:12.1
- Gabrielle Reid – Garibaldi Highlands, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 14:31.0
- Annabel Verner – Summerland, Thompson-Okanagan Zone – 14:36.8
Super Sprint Triathlon
Male
- Ari Stamhuis – Victoria, Vancouver Island-Central Coast Zone – 32:32.1
- Axel Martin – North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 32:40.3
- Haydn Davies – Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 33:56.1
Female
- Natalie Gan – Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 34:40.1
- Annabel Verner – Summerland, Thompson-Okanagan Zone – 35:06.4
- Gabrielle Reid – Garibaldi Highlands, Vancouver-Coastal Zone – 36:02.1
Mixed Team Relay
Just for fun, no medals on the line here. Teams were mixed across zones, in true Games spirit, and named after amphibians. Top 3:
- Team Axolotl – 43:21.0 Axel Martin (North Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal), Gryffin Falzon-Knoop (Fernie, Kootenays), Gabrielle Reid (Garibaldi Highlands, Vancouver-Coastal), Darragh Tormey (Comox, Vancouver Island-Central Coast)
- Team Salamander – 43:25.4 Jordan Tam (Coquitlam, Fraser River), Samanyu Saxena (Prince George, Cariboo-North East), Annabel Verner (Summerland, Thompson-Okanagan), Quintin Doerksen (Chilliwack, Fraser Valley)
- Team Hellbender – 47:42.8 Matthew Chow (Vancouver, Vancouver-Coastal), Harper Sidloski (Kelowna, Thompson-Okanagan), Tuesday Sulek (Comox, Vancouver Island-Central Coast), Camryn Bergen (Cranbrook, Kootenays)
And a special shoutout to the coaches: the coach team called Team Pink took the overall win – powered by the duo of Shelby Lehmann and Jack Screen.
Full BC Games Triathlon results can be found on Zone4, here:
https://zone4.ca/event/2026/gYY3x1/
That’s a Wrap
A huge thank you to the volunteers, coaches, parents, athletes, and BC Games staff who came together to run such an exceptional event. Over the course of the weekend, lifelong friendships and memories were made, new race skills were unlocked, and a whole new group of young athletes came away inspired to keep competing and stay in sport for years to come.
Many of these athletes will carry that momentum straight into the draft-legal Super Series this summer, with the Apple Triathlon, T100, and National Championships all coming up in August. Others will turn their focus back to other sports, whether that’s running, swimming, cycling, soccer, or something else entirely, since so many of these kids are multisport athletes who compete across the board.
The next BC Games will be held in Penticton in 2028, and we can’t wait to welcome the next round of athletes, born in 2013 and 2014, to the start line. See you there!
