Tyler Mislawchuk’s path to the world stage was far from conventional. He grew up on the ice, playing hockey before turning to cross-country running to stay in shape. He did not learn to swim until he was sixteen, starting with a 400m time of 7:58. A year later, after countless hours of technique work in a dive tank, he could cover 800m in 10:04. (For the record, that’s an improvement from 2:00 to 1:15 per 100m!)
Tyler’s first triathlon at age twelve was a mini-triathlon that convinced him to stick with hockey. But when a spot opened at a regional Summer Games and triathlon was the only event left, he gave it another try – the first step of what would ultimately become a journey to the Olympic Games.
By his junior years, Tyler was training on a basement treadmill that maxed out at 10 miles an hour, running hill sprints at steep inclines imagining himself racing alongside Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez. In 2014, he told the Canadian national coach he wanted to race in Rio. The answer was blunt: “Your name and Rio do not belong in the same sentence.”
He found another way. At nineteen, he moved to Hong Kong to train under a Canadian coach leading an international squad. Soon he was winning against national team athletes. The same coach called again: “Maybe you do have a shot at Rio.” Two years later, at age twenty-one, Tyler stood on the start line of his first Olympic Games.
Widely regarded as one of Canada’s most accomplished and formidable triathletes, Tyler has since made his mark on the world stage. He placed 15th at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics (and won the Tokyo test event), climbed into the top 10 in Paris, and remains a serious medal contender heading toward Los Angeles 2028.
Tyler’s 2025 Season: Blending Challenge, Growth, and Opportunity
While the Olympics remain a central focus, Tyler’s 2025 season has marked a fresh chapter – one where he’s expanded his horizons and embraced new challenges. He opened with a commanding win at Ironman 70.3 Pucon, his first ever half-distance, made his T100 Triathlon World Tour debut in Singapore, and has continued testing himself on the WTCS and Supertri circuits.
“When I sat down with my coach Marc at the beginning of the year, we talked about what the goals were,” Tyler said, noting that the objectives combined enjoyment, performance, and long-term development.
Racing across formats is helping Tyler sharpen a wider range of skills and push himself in new ways. For example, his wildcard invitation to T100 Singapore gave him the opportunity to measure himself against the world’s best middle-distance athletes, despite not feeling his best on the day.
Beyond performance, the variety also helps to open doors – such as increasing sponsor visibility, which can help with career longevity. But Tyler is quick to note that his racing decisions run much deeper and are not just about funding or exposure.
“I’ve fallen more in love with this sport year after year,” he said. “The people that it’s offered me are too much to ever walk away from fully.”
That sense of connection is matched by an unshakeable belief that his best is still ahead. “I think the biggest motivation why I’m still in this sport is that I’m still improving,” he shared. “It doesn’t really matter the format for me – middle distance, long distance, super sprint, ITU. It’s just about seeing how far I can push myself and where that stacks up against the best guys in the world.”
“When I look back in ten, fifteen, twenty years, the format won’t matter so much,” Tyler continued. “It’ll be, did I do everything I could to be the best version of myself. And it sounds kind of corny, but that’s what gets me up every day.”
A Lifelong Connection
For Tyler, triathlon is not just a career. It is a calling. What began as a pursuit of Olympic glory has evolved into a lifelong relationship with the sport that has shaped him and given him a community he never imagined. It’s why he continues to lean into new challenges.
“I thought when I first started that maybe when I retired, I wouldn’t be involved in triathlon anymore,” he said. “But that’s come full circle. There’s no way I’ll ever be out of this sport completely. I love it too much.”
While Tyler does not yet have next season mapped out yet, he notes that he prefers it that way. “I can’t really say 100% what I’ll be doing next year…but I think that’s also what’s exciting to me.”
Wherever the path leads, one thing is certain: Tyler is not done yet. Not even close. In a recent Instagram post for the For Canada Project, he displayed the word sôhkitêhêwin – courage – written on his arm. Beyond a symbol representing Canada, it is a thread that runs through his journey. From the dive tank at the local pool to three Olympic Games, and from moments of doubt to proving himself against the best in the world, courage has always been at the core of who Tyler is – and it will continue to shape where he goes next.
The post Catching Up With Tyler Mislawchuk: Embracing Every Distance, Every Challenge, Every Moment appeared first on Triathlon Magazine Canada.