The sun shone brightly and the skies were generally clear for the annual Cowichan Challenge triathlon in Chemainus on June 29.
The event, now hosted by Human Powered Racing, is a fundraiser for Cowichan Search and Rescue.
"The 2025 event was fantastic, with great weather and a super group of athletes competing," said Human Powered Racing's Rob Dibden.
About 137 of the 169 participants registered completed the race by swimming in Fuller Lake, biking the back roads, and running the municipal trails in either the standard, sprint/junior, aqua-bike, or youth age-group courses.
Nanaimo's Jason Basaur won the adult standard race in 2:09:02.5 while Nanaimo's Sunelle Brink was the top female with a time of 2:31:06.8.
The sprint event was won in 1:11:28.8 by Stan Lorenzo, 44, of Vancouver. The top female sprinter was Stephanie Brown, 59, with a time of 1:17:25.6, for third overall.
Mill Bay's Diana Persson was 25th overall and second in her W55-59 sprint race grouping while Cobble Hill's Laura Robson was first in the W40-44 grouping and 27th overall in the sprint.
Brenda Niziol of Shawnigan Lake was first in the W70-74 sprint and 47th overall.
Crofton's Wayne Newman was third in the M35-39 sprint and 48th overall.
Junior winners were 17-year-old Malcolm Blackburn of Duncan, and Nyla Sajan.
Winners of the youth races in their age/gender groupings were Carson Bartley and Aaliyah Armstrong (youth 14-15), Ari Stamhuis and Tuesday Sulek (youth aged 12-13), Dawson Carroll and Juno Sulek (youth aged 10-11), Joshua Mills and Olivia Armstrong (youth aged 8-9), and Liam Bowem and Peyton Brabbins (youth aged 6-7).
For the second year in a row, Whitehorse's Jillian Chown, 54, was the first to finish the aqua-bike course in a time of 1:39:47.5. The first man to cross the line was Steve Watt, in fourth place overall. Watt's men's group win was up one place from last year. All told, eight racers registered and seven finished the race.
As for Duncan racers: Stefan Eberle placed second in the M40-45 standard race and was 16th overall; Kurtis Bosnell was second in the M45-49 standard race and 19th overall; John Darbyshire was fourth in the M50-54 standard race and 30th overall; Danielle Dyck was fifth in the F30-34 sprint group and 56th overall; Dana Lyngard was third in the F65-69 sprint race and 61st overall.
Duncan's Lauren Reimer was second in the F60-64 sprint grouping and was 44th overall while Woody Reimer was second in his M60-64 sprint grouping and was 18th overall.
Duncan youngster Waverley Patterson was fifth in the youth 8-9 race while Laura Patterson was second in the F40-44 standard race and 25th overall.
Meanwhile, former Cowichan Valley Capital Daman Milsom was second in the M38-39 standard race grouping — good for 23rd overall while Duncan product and Olympic medallist with Canada's national women's soccer team Emily Zurrer placed third in the F35-39 standard race grouping and was 39th overall.
Ladysmith had six racers in the event.
John Scott won the sprint's M35-39 age group and was 19th overall; Lisa Jolicoeur was third in the sprint's 35-39 age group with a 26th overall showing; Nathalie St-Pierre was third in the W40-44 sprint group and 35th overall; Hayley Boast was third in the sprint's F25-29 grouping and 58th overall in the sprint; Kian Fogarty, 13, was fourth in the youth 12-13 race while Evie Fogarty, 15, was third in the youth 14-15 race.
