First Supertri, First Win for Jolien Vermeylen

Jolien Vermeylen takes the win at Supertri Toronto. Photos: Kevin Mackinnon

Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen shocked a star-studded field at last weekend’s Supertri Toronto race, managing to hold off two of the sport’s biggest names (Leonie Perriault, fresh off a big win at World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg, and reigning Olympic gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand) for an auspicious debut in the unique race format. We caught up with a very excited Vermeylen after the race:

Slowtwitch.com: Congratulations on a great race. Can you tell me a little bit about the race and how things went?

Jolien Vermeylen: Well, I think the first triathlon was more like a normal relay, so I thought I’d just go hard and was maybe regretting (my) life choices because, at the end of the first one, I was pretty dead and they just kept jogging and I was like, oh my God, I went too hard. So, (for) the second one, I tried to do what Tim (Don, the coach of the Brownlee Racing Team) said and just try to stay in contention, but not completely kill myself.

And the third one I went all in and I thought, ‘maybe this is very stupid, but at least I raced with my heart.’ I went as hard as I could and just I gave all I had and I’m very happy with this result. Like, who would have thought this?

And I guess having that short chute changed everything, right?

That really helped. Yeah, because Cassandra, her run was so fast, like she had already 10 meters on me and then I took the short chute and I was with her, and I was like, oh, the first run to go so hard was absolutely worth it (in order to earn the short chute).

Also, credits for the girls of my team – we took all the short chutes for our team, so (there were) no other short chutes for the other teams. So, well, it was maybe not technical, it just happened, but it was very good to have that advantage.

And then on that last lap, you went for it, right? Were you surprised that Cassandra didn’t come with you? (After the race we learned Beaugrand thought the final run was just one lap instead of two.)

Well, I was very surprised that I could hold on … but after the last left turn, before the technical section, I thought, I cannot hold this, I cannot hold this – keep going, legs, keep going. But yeah, I was also surprised that they didn’t come after me. Well, they did come because I had the short chute.

I think they both ran faster maybe, but yeah, I was just surprised and happy.

What does it mean to get the win here for you?

It means so much. I’ve been wanting to do Supertri for a few years. I’ve been trying to get in, but at first I couldn’t because I was trying to qualify for the Olympics and it just didn’t really fit my schedule. And then after the Olympics, I could, but I didn’t qualify. This year, I made so much progression and I got in contact with Tim and then he said you can be in the team. So, I’m very happy to have him as a team leader because he does so much for us. He set up transitions, made sure we have ice … he’s such a good team leader, he knows what he’s doing, and he makes sure that we can perform the best that we can.

So I guess you’re all in now on Supertri for the rest of the year?

Well, I’m going to do three of the four races. I cannot do Chicago, unfortunately. I would love to, but I can’t. I’m at a training camp then and I cannot like leave the training camp. But, I’m very looking forward to Jersey and Toulouse, and I can’t wait for the next one.

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