University of Regina student-athlete, Nataliia Kolesova, was one of five women to compete for Canada at the FISU World University Triathlon Championships in Maceio, Brazil last month.
“It was such an awesome experience and unique opportunity. It was such a beautiful venue, we were on a beach with white sand and clear water,” said Kolesova on travelling to Brazil for the competition.
The fourth year Kinesiology student at the University of Regina placed 28th out of 40 in the Elite Women’s category.
“It wasn’t the result I was looking for but it is what it is and I did get to learn a lot from that race,” she said.
“It was her first world championships. We hope she has more opportunities to go (to more). So it’s a great experience for her to compete against some of the best athletes in the world,” said Brendan Mackenzie, one of Kolesova’s coaches.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device
Kolesova is a member of the University of Regina’s swim team but trains as a triathlete outside of school and has been since 2016.
She said it was probably one of the most random decisions of her life. She recalls being on a high school cross-country team and coming home from a meet with her mom and saying, ‘I really miss competitive sports.’
“I just ran for fitness and I used to swim competitively. So I obviously know how to swim, I know how to run, I know how to ride a bike. I don’t know if I do it well but I know how to ride one, so how about triathlon,” said Kolesova on how she got into the sport.
“It involves around 20 hours a week of training and you know she’s a full-time student too on top of that. She’s super driven, super focused, super committed, and she doesn’t take no for an answer,” said Mackenzie.
Right now, Kolesova is in the “off-season” portion of her training, something that is common for triathletes as they prepare for the upcoming intense schedule during competition season.
“Generally most athletes make most of their gains in the offseason. We’re trying to always improve their fitness. What you’re trying to do is kind of taper and sort of peak essentially,” said Mackenzie.
Kolesova placed seventh at Nationals this year and says she hopes to crack the top five or get a podium finish next year.
She will also compete at the European Cup where she hopes to earn enough points to qualify for U23 Worlds next year. However, the goals does not stop there as Kolesova already has her sights on competing at the Olympics someday.
“The Olympics are a big goal for every athlete and that would be the same for me. LA 2028 is around the corner,” she joked. “I’m hoping to be a part of Team Canada there but I also love the long-distance side of triathlon so that’s something I kind of want to dip my toe in as well. Maybe a potential Ironman but for now my focus of course is to compete on the world stage at the World Triathlon Series Races.”
“She’s now one of, you know, the best swimmers in the country for triathlon, she’s one of the best cyclists for triathlon, so now we just need to get her run up to par and she’ll really start to reap the rewards,” said Mackenzie.
