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Beaton Classic to test athletic endurance

With the Beaton Classic just a week away, elite athletes in the area will fine-tune their training, as the 15-20 or so adventurous souls who attempt to conquer the solo quadrathlon (swim/bike/canoe/run) prepare to push their bodies to the limit.
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The 2015 Firecracker Road Race in Walden drew a diverse crowd on July 1. Supplied photo.
With the Beaton Classic just a week away, elite athletes in the area will fine-tune their training, as the 15-20 or so adventurous souls who attempt to conquer the solo quadrathlon (swim/bike/canoe/run) prepare to push their bodies to the limit.

Just a couple of decades ago, however, it was a man far more well-known, these days, for his involvement in the local hockey scene, that was at or near the top of the heap when it came to dominance in the solo competition.

Now 46 years old, Adrian Gedye drew on a background of swimming excellence, eventually morphing into an international caliber triathlete. These days, between his work at the Pinnacle Sport outlet in Lively that he owns and operates, as well as the work, on the side, that he does with respected professional hockey agency Uptown Sports, Gedye has backed away as an active participant.

Quite the opposite from his experience as a youngster, the middle of five children in the family. "My dad dabbled in sports," said Gedye. "He did some serious mountaineering and mountain climbing, but I was probably the first one of the kids to get serious at a highly competitive level."

That would be in the pool, where at the age of seven, he followed in the footsteps of siblings Julie and Steven, hooking up with the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club. Transitioning from a core of athletes that included the likes of Alex and Roman Baumann, Jennifer Campbell and Rob Wallenius, Gedye was a key part of the next wave.

Flanked by the national caliber talents of Darcy Wallingford, Jamie Bretzlaff, Denise Gereghty, Hanya Chmara, Janet McKetsy and others, Gedye excelled, at one point ranked fourth in the country, in his age group, in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

Yet there was a physical reality that needed to be faced. "In terms of anatomy for swimmers, I kind of topped out at 5'9"," he said. "I was always extremely strong and powerful." But... - most of his competition, at an elite level, would sprout to comfortably beyond six feet tall.

Reaching his late teens and sensing a limit to his upside swimming potential, Gedye slipped over to a more broad-based test of athletic abilities. At seventeen or eighteen years of age, he was introduced to triathlons.

And given that his university swim season would finish in March, the potential to cross-train in other areas presented an appeal. "In my first race, I led out of the water and was being chased," recalled Gedye. "It was such a rush, knowing that you could compete in a big race."

And so began his serious efforts to develop much further as both a cyclist and a runner. "The biggest thing about swimmers, at an elite level, is that it's such a cruel sport, training-wise," noted Gedye.

"I think it creates a mental and physical toughness. A lot of it with triathlons is how much pain you can endure, and how long you can hold that, and I think that swimming emulates that."

"The running was the biggest challenge, simply because as a swimmer, I was very muscle-bound," said Gedye. "I was probably close to 185, 190 pounds, at 5'9", with 6% or 7% body fat. The prototypical elite runner is probably close to 140, 150 pounds."

"Even triathletes are usually below 160. That was the challenge, to drop the weight I needed to be a very good triathlete," Gedye continued. "I did improve, over time, but not to the point I needed to be a world-class professional."

Which is not to imply that there weren't some cherished accomplishments in the sport for the Sudbury resident. In 1991, Gedye travelled to Australia, site of the World Triathlon Championships. Along with national team training partner Rob Campbell, Gedye competed in the 20-24 age grouping.

"I finished 13th, less than a minute away from a medal," outlined Gedye. Campbell was eighth. Yet the memories went well beyond their placements. "It was pretty neat because we spent some time with Sasha (Alex) Baumann, since he was at the race," said Gedye.

Baumann had trained with Gedye, with the SLSC, at the tail-end of his career, then served as his coach for a couple of years at Laurentian University.

"And then there was "thunder alley", the area where we were heading into the stadium to begin and end your laps on the bike, and swim, and running. There were 20,000 people in the stands, because the Aussies are just triathlon-crazy."

"It was such an incredible thrill to hear the roar of the crowd." While international success may have been fleeting, Gedye was still asserting himself on a local front, capturing the Beaton on no less than five seperate occasions.

"I have so many fond memories of the Beaton, some wars out there with Mike Hay, Kerry Abols. I probably did ten or eleven of them in all." Hampered by recurring back issues, and unable to shake the competitive spirit that would make it difficult to compete recreationally, Gedye would move away from his passion in the mid-1990s.

A decade later, he would become immersed in local minor hockey circles, extremely involved in the development of his step-son Tyler Bertuzzi. Hockey, it seems, had always been there in the background.

"As an elite swimmer, you're training as much as ten times a week," said Gedye. "There really is no room for any other sport. I dabbled a little bit in high school sports, when they didn't interfere."

"Hockey was always my first love, always a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, for better or worse, from a very young age." But for those with a historical sense of the Beaton, Adrian Gedye will always be associated, first and foremost, with the long-time Sudbury summer tradition.

The 2015 Beaton Classic takes place on Sunday, August 9th, with athletes leaving Moonlight Beach at 9:00 a.m. sharp.

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