Professional triathlete Jeff Symonds yesterday placed seventh at the Challenge Bahrain triathlon among a star-studded field of the world’s most decorated triathletes.

The Challenge Penticton triathlon co-owners this morning extended their congratulations to the locally raised athlete. Jeff is a two-time winner at Challenge Penticton, having grown up watching the long-distance triathlon event in his home town.

“Kevin and I are deeply proud of Jeff’s achievement,” said Michael Brown, on behalf of himself and Kevin Cutjar, co-owners of the Penticton event. “Achieving seventh place in this world-class field – one of the strongest ever assembled for a race of this distance – is well deserved for this hard-working athlete. On this international stage, Jeff proved once again he is wonderful ambassador for Canada and the sport of triathlon.”

After finishing the 1.9-km swim leg in 21st place in a time of 22:45, Jeff climbed to 13th place after completing the 90-km bike leg in 2:06:32. He overtook six more athletes on the final leg of the triathlon, finishing the 21.1-km half-marathon run in 1:12:27.