SportsOakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 201032 By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR As an excellent swimmer andstrong runner, AndrewBysice always had two of the three tools needed to be a success- ful triathlete. He just never realized it until recently. The 23-year-old fell into the sport a year ago after his retirement from university swimming left a competitive void. Now hes an interna- tional triathlon medal- list who feels hes ready to challenge the worlds elite. Sometimes you just stumble upon something you really like and it snowballs into something, says Bysice. Just out of nowhere, its dropped into my lap. But at the same time, its taken me to such crazy and exciting things. Im just ecstatic about the opportunity. I never expected this at all. Was always a swimmer From the age of eight, Bysices focus was always on swimming. He once competed in the junior nationals, something he considers the highlight of his career in the pool, and was on the McMaster University swim team. But at McMaster, Bysice noticed he wasnt seeing as much improvement as before. Part of that was his concentration on aca- demics. He is a three-time aca- demic All-Canadian and made the Deans list. Bysice was also always a good runner, thanks in part to how fit he was from swimming. In high school, he reached the South regional track-and- field championships one step away from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations provincial meet despite never training specifically for the sport. It was amazing for me to get to that point without any training, he says. When Bysice first considered competing in triathlons, he quick- ly realized that his ability to run would be the biggest key. You learn very fast that tris at a high level turn out to be a running race, says Bysice, who joined McMasters cross-country and track-and-field teams. I wanted to get pretty good at running. Quickly successful It didnt take long for Bysice to taste success on the triathlon scene. He was fourth at the provincial under-23 draft legal championships in July, a race won by a member of the national under-23 triathlon team. A month later, he finished third at the provincial triathlon champi- onships in Cobourg, finishing the 1,500-metre swim, 40km bike and 10km run course in a time of 2:12:13. With his results at different races throughout Ontario, Bysice qualified for the nationals but chose not to compete in the Canadian championships. Hed also qualified for the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championships in Budapest, where coach Lee Hart felt Bysice had a good chance at a medal. Bronze at world sprint meet At the worlds (a sprint triathlon, half the distances of an Olympic triathlon) last month, Bysice emerged from the swim portion with the top pack. He stayed in good position through the bike until some confusion in the transi- tion zone to the run cost him about 40 seconds. He came into the run in eighth position. I had to hunt a bunch of guys down, Bysice recalls. I just dug deep and was picking guys off one by one. Within the last 300 metres, I put myself in third place. Bysice would hold on for world Its worth a tri EARLY RETURNS: Andrew Bysice cycles the course at the provincial triathlon championships in Cobourg earlier this year. The 23-year-old won bronze at that meet and also finished third at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championships in Budapest last month, a year after getting into the sport. Ex-swimmer bursts onto international scene in new sport Sometimes you just stumble upon something you really like and it snowballs into something. Andrew Bysice See Triathlete page 33