To The Haldimand Press
CAYUGA—Cayuga’s Caitlyn Thompson is familiar with all athletics competitions ending in “athlon”.
In 2021, she travelled to St. Catharines to become Ontario’s Under-16 Girls’ Champion in the Pentathlon, an event comprised of hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800m.
The following year, with 200m and javelin added, it became a two-day event in London as she captured her first Heptathlon crown.
It was a bit of a surprise, however, to be contacted by Triathlon Canada after her RBC Training Ground testing on March 11, 2023 at the University of Western Ontario. As previously reported, Thompson was one of two athletes invited to the event to showcase their athletic skills for various national sports organizations.
CAYUGA—Caitlyn Thompson demonstrates her strength at an RBC Training Ground in London. —Photo courtesy of
J. Thompson.
The triathlon is comprised of swimming, biking, and running, each over considerable distances. It’s not a strange suggestion, when you review Thompson’s background.
In her 13th summer, Thompson swam across the lake at her family cottage, not a normal activity for an elementary school kid.
Starting with Grade 5, she set a long-term goal of winning the County Cross Country Championships; she finished fourth that year, third the next, second in Grade 7, and won it all in her graduating year.
In her high school Junior year, she was 33rd out of 260 runners in the OFSAA Championships, and she currently bikes 13 miles (20.9km) a day! Throw this in with the fact that she out-lasted the rest of the girls in the shuttle run (“beep test”), and the all-important endurance factor comes to the fore.
A few days later, she got her second surprise, when she was contacted by a rowing group, a sport heavily reliant on leg and back strength, another aspect she dominated on March 11.
Although she says that she hates the distance running for triathlon, only doing it as training for track and field, and knows little or nothing about rowing a boat, she is waiting now to see what the procedure is for each group.
The secondary testing by the different sport governing bodies determines which athletes are recommended for the testing in Ottawa, which could lead to funding for training and competitions, with the ultimate goal joining a national team and heading to the Olympic Games.
