'Very surreal': Local triathlete making strides in sophomore year

On the heels of a strong showing in her first year of triathlon competition, Sault Ste. Marie’s Taylor Corelli knew that her second season wasn’t going to be easy.

Building on a first year that saw her qualify for international competition, this summer was one where she hoped to follow up strong.

And follow up strong she did.

“I’m always aware that sophomore seasons are usually harder than rookie seasons because rookie seasons, you don’t really have expectations. You’re just seeing how things go and then happily surprised by results,” Corelli said. “This year, I just felt that there was a little bit more pressure and expectations just from myself because I wanted to follow up how well I did last year.”

With a spot in last summer’s World Championship already clinched, Corelli earned a spot in this year’s event thanks to a strong showing at the Toronto Triathlon Festival.

Corelli returned to the event this summer and another strong showing was a major confidence boost for the Sault athlete.

“My confidence is certainly much higher this year because of that result,” Corelli said. “I had come off Muskoka where I had a good result as well, so I was feeling a little bit more confident.

“Going there knowing that there might be better competition and more competition made me a bit nervous, but coming off that, certainly my confidence has increased. I do feel like I belong a bit more and heading into worlds, it’s nice to know that I can be the top of my age group here.”

Corelli said that with the World Championship on the horizon in September, she’s feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement for her second international competition.

“Last year was a bit different because it was an ironman event, so it was still very individual, whereas this is more of a Team Canada feel,” Corelli said. “We have an official team. We have an official uniform.

“There’s a bit more of a sense of community and country pride to this one,” Corelli added. “I’m excited to see the difference and just have other athletes to be around and make some friendships.”

With this years World Championship set for next month, Corelli said it’s still sinking in that she’s getting a chance to compete internationally for the second time.

“I’m still trying to come to grips with the fact that this is all happening. It’s still very wild to me,” Corelli laughed. “I think until I get there, it’s going to feel very surreal and probably still surreal when I get there. The fact that I can go and travel to Europe to do something I love and have fun doing just seems like such a privilege.”

Prior to the Worlds in Spain, which is set for Sept. 24, Corelli has one more race coming up.

She’s slated to compete in Wasaga Beach this weekend, which is also a Worlds qualifier for the 2024 event in New Zealand.

Her earlier success this season has already clinched her a spot in next year’s worlds and allows her to use the Wasaga Beach event to try to tweak things heading into the Worlds.

“We’re really going to try to play with that race, see if I can try to run a bit faster and hold a faster pace, knowing that if for some reason I can’t hold that pace, I haven’t lost anything and if I can, then I’ve built even more confidence,” Corelli said.