Paralympic Games trio named to Para triathlon national team for 2025

VICTORIA – Paralympic Games bronze medallist Leanne Taylor of Oak Bluff, Man., multiple world champion Stefan Daniel of Calgary and Kamylle Frenette of Dieppe, N.B. were named to Canada’s national Para triathlon team for the 2025 competitive season.

Taylor, a bronze medallist in Paris in the women’s wheelchair division, is expecting her first child this summer with her husband and race assistant Scott Dyk and is eyeing a return to action at the 2025 World Para Triathlon Championships in Australia in October.

Her bronze in Paris capped a great 2024 season which included a win and two silvers on the Para Series circuit. She is ranked fourth in the world.

Daniel, a two-time Paralympic Games medallist, earned his sixth career world crown in Spain last October in a spectacular return from his Paralympic Games performance. He was dominating the race in Paris before crashing in the final hairpin turn on the bike course.

“I’m feeling excited to kickstart the new quadrennial in a few weeks. I took a long break after last season and am feeling healthy and ready to go,” said Daniel, 28, born with bilateral radial club hands. “I’ve missed racing but I’m looking forward to getting things rolling again in Yokohama and training alongside this great group of Canadian athletes.”

Daniel is ranked number one in the world in the men’s PT5 category entering 2025 and has an incredible record of 46 podiums in 64 career starts internationally including 33 wins.

Frenette meanwhile was a question mark on whether she would continue her career after the Paris Games. She got married in 2023 and her pharmaceutical career is well underway. The Dalhousie University graduate was fourth at both her Paralympic appearances in 2020 and 2024.

Shortly after the Games she said: “I’ve spent most of my life focusing on sports. I’m going to take a little block of time to focus on that (her future), and then get a bit more comfortable in my career as a pharmacist. After that, we’ll see.”

However, Frenette has continued to improve each season in her competitive career. Leading into the Paris Games, she won a gold and two silver on the Para Series circuit. Her victory in Montreal in July was her first on the tour. She has earned 21 podiums including five victories in 30 starts internationally. She enters the 2025 season ranked second in the world in the women’s PT5.

The 2025 Para triathlon season gets underway May 16 in Yokohama, Japan with the first stop on the Para series circuit. Montreal will also host a stop once again on July 18 on Ile Notre-Dame.

Meanwhile Magog, Que. hosts a World Triathlon Para Cup event July 11-12. The world championships are October 14-18 in Wollongong, Australia.

With files from Triathlon Canada