Olympian turned coach puts no limits on elite para-triathletes

RIO DE JANEIRO — Canadian para-triathlon head coach Carolyn Murray watched with pride this morning as 19-year-old Stefan Daniel of Calgary surged across the finish line at Fort Copacabana to win the silver medal in the PT4 men's race.

This was the day where all the hard training the head coach and Daniel have put in over the past years bore ultimate fruit.

• Stefan Daniel adds Canada's 7th medal

Daniel said Murray has played an instrumental role in guiding him to the Paralympic podium.

"She's been great," Daniel said. "I moved out to Victoria this year to be closer to her and she has helped me improve a lot. I was not confident on my bike this year. My biking improved a lot throughout the year, so I am glad that I went to train out there with her."

Canada's top para-triathletes are seeking out Murray as a mentor because she is a world-class triathlete herself. Murray competed for Canada at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and was named the nation's top triathlete in the same year.

Recalling the experiences she had in China has proven to be useful to Murray in connecting with her athletes.

"I still have a real understanding of what they are going though mentally and can relate to all the scenarios," she said. "They are athletes that make it look easy out there, but they are people with feelings so you can't discount that. They are not robots and I think being an athlete myself I understand you need to focus on the person, not just athletes going through the motion of training."

Murray entered the realm of coaching soon after her Olympic experience at the behest of Patrick Kelly, the head of the national program at the time, due to the large amount of athletes participating in the spot at the time. She started off at 10 hours a week and her participation grew to a point where this job is now her full-time career.

Murray first worked with able-bodied triathletes for the first few years as a coach before switching over the para-triathlon program in 2014. Her efforts with the national para-triathlon team earned her the 2015 Elite Coach of the Year Award from Triathlon Canada and Lifesport Coaching.

It has been a good fit for her as she appreciates the mindset of the athletes she works with.

"I think I have such an appreciation for athletes overcoming challenges and not making limitations," said Murray. "The athletes impress me every day. We have gone with the approach to not put a limit on what we can do."