Originally published at: Supertri Adds Toronto Tri Festival to Its List of Mass Participation Events - Slowtwitch News
Founded by Michael D’hulst, Leonid Boguslavsky and Chris McCormack in 2016, Supertri has always been focused on short course racing. Originally starting with unique format pro races, over the last few years the company has branched out to mass-participation events. One of the first acquisitions was the Malibu Triathlon – we’re guessing you’re all too familiar with the issues there, but in case you’re new to Slowtwitch, you can catch up on the travails around that event here.
Things have been more successful with other acquisitions. In 2023 Supertri acquired the Long Beach Triathlon, which uses the same course to be used for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. In 2024 Supertri purchased the Chicago and New York City Triathlons. While the New York event hasn’t happened since the purchase, things have gone well in Chicago, which is currently seeing a 20% increase in registrations compared to this time last year. New York has been more of a challenge – the event’s July time frame really doesn’t work, and moving the race to September has run into scheduling conflicts, so that event’s future remains uncertain. Supertri has been boldly moving on in North America despite those challenges, though. With the financial support of Boguslavsky, a Russian-born billionaire who actually became a Canadian citizen while doing his PhD at the University of Toronto, Supertri has been steadily adding North American races to its schedule. Earlier this year Supertri announced it had purchased two races in Texas and that it was creating a “By Supertri” brand dedicated to age group racing, and today the company announced that it has also acquired the Toronto Triathlon Festival (TTF) to add to that mix.
The Toronto event started in 2012 and features a unique, downtown course that travels along two major highways. According to a release from Supertri, the event “attracts over 1,750 athletes and 200 volunteers annually, offering races for everyone from elite competitors ro first-time triathletes.”
We caught up with Supertri CEO Michael D’Hulst yesterday about the acquisition. Turns out he competed in the Olympic-distance event in Toronto last year. Supertri and TTF race director Jeff Chong have been in “conversations” for a few years, D’Hulst revealed.
“I did the event last year and I really enjoyed it,” D’Hulst said. “It’s a really unique course and I’m excited because I love the event. It has massive potential and we have a good relationship.”
D’Hulst is bang on regarding the potential of the event. The greater Toronto area has a population of 6.7 million people, and over 12 million people live within a commuting distance of the city. Ontario has a large and enthusiastic triathlon community, too.
“For us, Toronto personifies a perfect collaboration with Supertri and our By Supertri brand,” D’Hulst said. “An urban setting and an area that has huge potential for growth. The addition of the 10K … aligns with our vision of creating endurance festivals. We will bring our marketing power, the wider (Supertri) brand … the reach we can add to spotlight the event. It has massive potential to grow – we can add investments to market the events. This is our perfect blueprint – downtown events that have something unique to offer and triathlon areas with huge upsides.”
After the Malibu issues around permits, I had to ask D’Hulst if he was worried at all about the possibility of losing the ability to use the two main highways that are a part of the Toronto course.
“It’s definitely a concern – permits are an issue we’ve faced in our mass participation events,” he said. “Once I was there last year and saw the uniqueness of the course we did our due diligence. We spoke with the various stakeholders to understand what that means and to get reassurance from the city that this is something that is there to stay. Bigger cities have bigger visions and not as likely to quickly pivot. This event has created a legacy and has become a staple of Toronto’s event strategy, and there’s an embracing that we will, together with Jeff, build that out. We’ve got some commitments there.”
Olympic Build
For D’Hulst the push into North America for the By Supertri brand is an important way to encourage more athletes to take up the sport and ride on the potential wave of the upcoming Games in Los Angeles. The goal is to work with other stakeholders to introduce more people to the sport.
“Our focus is on these urban triathlons, which are typically a bit more expensive and little bit more risky, but that attract new people,” he said. “We’ve seen that – the percentage of new people into the sport from our surveys around Chicago. We play a big role – it’s something new, something fresh – to make short course cool again. I do think this plays a big role for the sport, but also for the smaller, independent organizers to keep the communities engaged. This can be the beginning of a new heyday for triathlon as a whole if we can collaborate across distances, but I’m determined to make short course cool again.”
Utilizing Supertri’s exciting pro racing format will be an integral part of adding to that exposure, too. D’Hulst feels that the exposure from the professional racing can help drive participation numbers. There’s still no word on what the pro schedule will look like later this year, but the upcoming Supertri E World Championship in London will feature a rematch between Olympic gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand and last year’s champ Beth Potter.
D’Hulst said that there could be more announcements in the cards for additional events this year. Here’s the current By Supertri schedule for 2025:
- Ascension Seton Austin CapTex Triathlon – May 26
- Long Beach Triathlon – July 20
- Toronto Triathlon – July 27
- Chicago Triathlon – August 23-24
- Kerrville Triathlon – September 27-28
- Toulouse Triathlon – October 5