Jake Birtwhistle's frustrating run of results has continued at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Montreal.
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The 27-year-old Tasmanian incurred a 10-second time penalty which cost him a top 20 spot in the super sprint eliminator in the Canadian heat.
The result capped a frustrating day for the Australians after rookies Natalie Van Coevorden and Brandon Copeland both finished 11th to miss their respective finals by one place.
Birtwhistle finished in 21st and WTCS debutant Callum McClusky 28th before being disqualified for a swim course infringement.
Ironically, leading into the weekend, Birtwhistle's coach Joel Filliol - now in charge of Australia's Olympic Program - said the demanding new format doesn't leave a lot of room for error.
The super sprint, consisting of a 300-metre swim, 7.2km bike and a 2km run, saw 30 athletes confirmed for Saturday's final. That was split into three super-sprints, the last 10 across the line being cut until just 10 remain to fight for the medals.
Four of the Australian elites were due to race in the Mixed Relay World Championship on Sunday.
Frustrated with a 21st-place finish at the previous WTCS race in the English city of Leeds, Birtwhistle told The Examiner: "This is the strongest and fittest I've been, probably ever. I'm seeing improvement in training even if the results in Leeds probably don't show that."
He will compete in the next round in Hamburg (July 9) before heading for Birmingham for his second Commonwealth Games.
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
