Vasco Vilaca

Vasco Vilaca has exploded onto the professional triathlon scene after seizing his chance in Super League to put himself among the very best in the world. The Portuguese youngster got into triathlon from an early age thanks to his parents and their desire to learn how to swim. His first race came when he was just six years old via a local duathlon.

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When the family moved to Sweden in 2013 due to the economic crisis in his home nation, Vilaca took the opportunity to step up his career and soon made the bold decision to move by himself, aged just 15, to Motala to study and train.

It was his link up here with coach Joachim Willen, the Swede who himself raced at the Olympics in triathlon, that helped propel him from junior success to elite level stardom. The pair got off to a slightly uneasy start, with Joachim keen to ensure that Vasco worked harder to make the most of his talent. It soon paid off as results flooded in. Despite the swim being his weaker discipline, rapid progress in the water helped quickly move him through the ranks.

Vasco got a first chance to race the big guns of the sport at Super League Triathlon Malta in 2019, where he proved his class by finishing eighth in an impressive field.

In 2020 he raced the SLT Arena Games in Rotterdam and came second and used that result as a confidence booster to then place second in the ITU World Championship race in Hamburg. He was also runner-up in the Karlov Vary World Cup in only his third ever Olympic distance race.

Vasco starred in the 2021 Championship Series to finish fourth overall which included a first ever podium in the season finale in Malibu.

Vilaca, under the guidance of Joel Filliol in Girona, has already enjoyed some impressive results in 2023 including 2nd place finishes at WTCS Abu Dhabi and Hamburg with a 3rd place finish at WCTS Yokohama, putting him right in the mix for the 2023 title. The Portuguese also raced to an impressive second place podium finish at the Paris Test Event ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games.

Vasco returns to the Super League Triathlon Championship Series in Malibu. His exciting style of racing saw him finish second in Munich and (despite being involved in a dramatic seal biting incident during event training), third on the west coast of America in 2022 , earning him fourth overall in the Series.

Vera, Vasco’s sister, is also a triathlete, and alongside his training, he studied Computer Science Engineering at Linkoping University.