Triathletes Set to Race Despite Concerns About Air Quality in Kelowna

The Kelowna Apple Triathlon was blessed with beautiful weather on Saturday, August 22nd, but Sunday, August 23rd, could hardly look more different.

The young winners of the Junior Elite Males category pose for cameras just after their race on Saturday. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

The air quality index rating for the Central Okanagan as of 7 a.m. on Sunday morning. (Image Credit: Environment Canada)

The air in Kelowna is grey and heavy with smoke from Washington’s Stickpin fire, and Environment Canada has issued a statement rating the risk from the local air quality index as high; but Apple Triathlon spokesperson Jessica Samuels said that she expects most registered athletes will race today, regardless.

“There’s no plans to change the event schedule or any of the race times; and when we talk about the athletes, really how it will impact them will depend on the athlete themselves,” she said.

Smoky air over Kelowna. Image captured early Sunday morning. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

“With any athlete that has respiratory issues, we may see things like their race times might be slower, and we may even have more instances than we typically would of racers pulling out . . . partially through the race.”

“We do have the provincial championships which are running today in the Olympic distance, so certainly this would impact that. We have one qualifying spot for someone to go to World Triathlon later on in 2016, and this would impact [a competitor’s] time, so, unfortunately, that is something that they will have to consider.”

Samuels emphasized that race officials and medical staff will be attentive, however, to how the racers are doing, and that they will increase their level of vigilance regarding any health crises that could occur.

Race officials are grateful that local air quality is expected to improve somewhat over the course of the day. (Image Credit: Environment Canada)

Samuels chatted with a few racers early Sunday morning who were concerned about the smoky conditions and how their performances might be affected, but many of these racers have come from quite a distance to compete in the Kelowna Apple Triathlon and it is general practice to give a race a go regardless of smoky skies.