"I'm preparing for London Summer Olympics qualifying, which begins in June, so from now to July of 2012, that's what all my focus will be about," said triathlete Brent McMahon of Victoria.

The 2004 Athens Summer Olympian and 2007 Rio Pan American Games silver medallist is hoping the five-race Subaru Western Triathlon Series helps propel him there.

"I will use this series as a tune up for the ITU events overseas in which you earn Olympic qualifying points," he said.

The series dates were announced yesterday at a press conference hosted by Bob Saunders, one of the prolific supporters of local athletics: The Shawnigan Lake International is May 30, Victoria New Balance Half Iron at Elk Lake on June 20, the Rogers Sportsnet-broadcast Vancouver International Triathlon on July 4 along Spanish Bank, the Sooke International on August 8 and the new-addition Banff International race Sept. 11.

The series, in its fourth year, is earning rave reviews and won three spots on Triathlon Magazine's recent best 100 races in the world listing. The Elk Lake event made it among the list of top-10 greenest races, the Vancouver race made the top-10 urban races ranking and Banff among the top-10 most anticipated new races.

"Kids get a chance to see racers like myself, Simon [Olympic double-medallist Simon Whitfield], Kyle [Beijing Olympics alternate Kyle Jones] and many other pros get to race on our home Island in this series, and that's a great bonus for us because we hope that gives them inspiration," said McMahon.

"And the races are all in such beautiful places."

Magali Tisseyre of Montreal, whose beaming face appears on the cover of the February edition of Triathlon Magazine, said she is looking forward to the series. The McGill kinesiology graduate, women's bronze medallist at the 2009 world Half Iron championships, said she knew there is only one place to be in Canada for this sport. So she joined the elite group with Lance Watson's and Paul Regensburg's Victoria-based LifeSport Coaching.

"Lance coached Simon [Whitfield] to Olympic gold and you can swim, ride and run outside all winter. I knew this is where I needed to be," said Tisseyre.

She may have been on beam for the Winter Olympics but shattered a leg in her first international snowboard-cross race and later turned to triathlon. Tisseyre has a steel rod in her leg as a souvenir of the snowboard crash. It runs the length of her tibia and is held in place by bolts at either end but clearly hasn't slowed her in the water, on the bike or on the road running.

"It's hit critical mass, with most of the best triathletes in Canada based in Victoria," said Watson.

"That's what we envisioned when myself, Paul [Regensburg] and others first set about establishing a national training centre. It's great to give these athletes a chance to race in a local circuit against visiting top-flight international pros, with three Island races and one in Vancouver and now Banff [which came about after a year of negotiations with Parks Canada]."

You don't have to convince Sooke Mayor Janet Evans of the value. Having just returned from 17 days at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the former track and field athlete spoke at the press conference still decked in HBC 2010 Games gear.

"This is a huge community event for Sooke and we're again really excited about it," said Evans.

The series features Half Iron and sprint distances, plus relays and is open to those of all calibres. Information and registration: www.triseries.ca.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it