DENVER – Maira Carreau's freshman season with the University of Denver women's triathlon team in 2023 was nearly perfect. Three races, three podiums, an individual regional championship and the first individual national championship title in program history.
"I would say maybe not perfect, but close to it," Carreau said after her historic win last November in Tempe, Arizona. "I'm pretty happy about it. I'm really excited to see what the other seasons can bring me here at Denver."
The now-sophomore built onto that win with a busy 2024 competition season, which included racing the Olympic distance at the under-23 World Championships on Oct. 17 in Torremolinos, Spain. She also defended her U23 Canadian National Championship earlier this fall on Sept. 27.
"The race went super well," Carreau recalled of her country's championships in Montreal, Quebec. "It was fun to see pretty much everyone in the country who is in triathlon in one race on the course where I trained all summer long. Also a lot of family came to visit which is rare at a race."
The La Prairie, Quebec, native's summer racing schedule began at the Clermont Challenge in the Orlando area (same venue as this year's national championships) and Americas Triathlon Championships in Miami in March and continued with events in Mexico, Austria, Spain and Netherlands before a trio of races in Canada—she was third in the Americas Triathlon Cup race in her home province in Magog on July 14 and sixth in the Edmonton event on Aug. 24 in addition to her Canadian championship.
Her race at the World Championships last month marked her third trip to Europe since late June; she placed 25th individually in the U23 event and then raced to a 14th-place result in the anchor leg for Team Canada in the U23/junior mixed-team relay.
"Traveling has been great; I've been traveling a lot for triathlon in the last two-to-three years I would say. It's part of being a high-level athlete," Carreau said. "You learn so much through life and I think that it is a good opportunity, but also for me it's super important to be in school. Being able to do both at the same time is really important, that is why I chose to go to the states rather than staying in Canada."
The mechanical engineer's second college campaign has also been solid.
With a tight racing schedule, she was held back a bit by the coaching staff in her season debut at the Battle in the Fort Collegiate Cup on Sept. 29, finishing 21st overall but still posting the eighth-fastest swim and 11th-quickest bike—splits that would have put her in contention for a podium spot. She was back in that position with a third-place finish at the Western Regional Championships on Oct. 12 in Springfield, Missouri, where DU also earned a bronze as a team.
"One of the advantages of NCAA triathlon is the team aspect of things. Usually we're racing for ourselves, sometimes we have training groups, but it's not the same thing as training with a group of girls that is motivated towards the same objective," Carreau said. "This year, looking at the freshman that came in, we're a strong team, we're really motivated, and we all get along so well. It is super fun. There was a great dynamic since week one of training, which was really amazing."
She aims to defend her individual collegiate national title on Nov. 9 at the 2024 championships in Clermont, Florida.
A similar strategy from 2023 might just do the trick this year. She wasn't in the first group out of the water a year ago, but she climbed through the field on the 20-kilometer bike and took a lead that she didn't relinquish early in the 5K run.
"Work intelligently on the bike, don't take pulls for nothing, be at the right spot at the right moment, staying in front in every corners, so I don't lose too much energy trying to catch a bike if something happens," Carreau said last November after her title win. "After T2, I came out and there were two or three girls in front of me. After 500 meters I caught them, I was in front, and I was like, 'Ok, let's keep it cool, let's see how it goes, see if girls are following.' … So just focus on everything, thinking of all of the hard trainings we've done on the run with the whole team and everything."
A repeat championship would certainly be quite the accomplishment for Carreau, but she says getting the Pioneers back on the podium and winning a team national title would be that much sweeter.
"I think we could do something great this season," Carreau said earlier this fall. "We still have an individual national champion title on our team, so I think that shows a lot of what we can do and where we can go in the next few years."
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