You’ll be familiar with their faces; some of you see them every weekend in the four corners of Quebec, and some of you have been seeing them for years. Always there to ensure your safety, often present to remind you of the rules at pre-race meetings and sometimes, to your dismay, also to enforce the rules and impose (very few) penalties, Triathlon Québec officials play a major role in the running of events. Through this series of portraits, we’d like to introduce you to the men and women behind the whistle. Who knows, it might even inspire you to join the team!
Triathlon Québec : Hello Sylvie, could you introduce yourself?
Sylvie Vicaire: Hello, my name is Sylvie Vicaire, and I’m 58 years old. I’ve been a retired chemist for 5 years now, and I’ve been a full-time triathlon coach since 2016. A great way to spend your retirement!
Triathlon Québec: How many years have you been a Triathlon Québec official, and what prompted you to become one?
Sylvie Vicaire: I’ve been a triathlon official since 2015 at the provincial level. As a triathlete myself for nearly 15 years, becoming an official has allowed me to see triathlon in all its facets.
Triathlon Québec: Continuity in the sport. After all these years, what motivates you to be an official every weekend?
Sylvie Vicaire: Being an official brings me a lot of excitement. At every event, I get butterflies because you can feel and perceive the nervousness of the participants. You can see their concentration, their determination, their courage too. And you experience it very closely with them.
Triathlon Québec: What qualities do you think make a good Triathlon Québec official?
Sylvie Vicaire: One of the qualities an official needs to have is self-confidence, because we have to make important decisions and take responsibility for them, even if they are sometimes difficult ones, such as shortening the distance of a race for safety reasons.
Triathlon Québec: As someone who has travelled the length and breadth of la belle province, what’s your favourite triathlon event?
Sylvie Vicaire: I can’t pick a favorite event in Quebec, because they’re all so unique. What about the Ironman with its thousands of participants, what about the X-Treme Canadaman with its level of difficulty, what about all the Quebec Cup events presented by Spark. Too many to choose just one!
Triathlon Québec: Can you give us one or more reasons for becoming a triathlon official?
Sylvie Vicaire: Being an official gives us a front-row seat to the action. It’s an incredible experience to follow the PRO triathletes on their bikes at IronMan Mont-Tremblant. It’s probably the best place to follow the event, but here again, you have to be confident in yourself and in your decisions, because giving a penalty to a PRO raises the stress level, believe me!
Triathlon Québec: With all these events under your belt, you must have a little anecdote to share with us?
Sylvie Vicaire: It’s more a wish than an anecdote. I’ve had the privilege of being an athlete at two world championships for Team Canada. These are extraordinary events. To be there as an official would be a dream for me… and it’s okay to dream, isn’t it? Triathlon is a passion. Official, athlete, coach, I don’t see myself stopping any time soon.
Triathlon Québec: Thank you Sylvie for this interview, and see you on September 4 at the Lac-Etchemin triathlon!
