Few in Canadian sport have swum stronger, pedalled harder or run farther than Peter Reid. On Tuesday in Calgary, he simply walked onto the stage and into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

The Victoria triathlon legend - three-time Ironman Hawaii world champion in 1998, 2000 and 2003 - was enshrined with the Class of 2011 that included hockey legend Raymond Bourque, B.C. Lions kicking great Lui Passaglia, soccer international Andrea Neil, former IOC vice-president Richard Pound and UVicgrad and Winter Paralympics 10-time medallist skier Lauren Woolstencroft.

"I'm still in disbelief," said Reid, by phone from Calgary, which is the new home of the Canadian Sports Hall.

"I'm sitting with Ray Bourque on one side of me and Lui Passaglia on other side and I'm thinking: 'Oh boy.' This is great for our sport. I'm the first triathlete in the Canadian Hall, although we all know Simon [fellow-Victoria triathlon legend Whitfield] is going to be inducted for sure one day."

Along with his three Ironman Hawaii world titles, Reid was also twice runner-up and third once in Kona as he left a major mark on the fabled event from 1998 to 2005. He paid tribute to his adopted training community for creating that success.

"I never would have won anything if not for Victoria," said Reid, 42, now a seaplane pilot for Harbour Air.

"I would walk into a coffee shop and there would be [Olympic-medallist cyclist] Alison Sydor and [worldchampion cyclist] Roland Green and [Olympic-champion rower] Derek Porter. It was a huge melting pot of ideas. We would share the stories of our ups and downs and helped each other. I would bounce ideas off the Olympic swimmers here. Victoria was such a mecca for sports because of that. And that's what made entering the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame [with the Class of 2010] so meaningful to me. Because of the number of athletes that come out of Victoria, to get into the Victoria hall is amazing."

Tuesday, however, was the big one. Reid said he envisions the day he will bring his six-month-old son Waymouth to Calgary.

"That's going to be the biggest rush when he gets older and I come back with him and show him my name up there with all these Canadian sports greats," said Reid.

Interestingly, Reid, Neil and Woolstencroft are also the first athletes from their sport to be inducted into the 520-member hall.

"That's what allows me to digest this honour at all, is that it's an induction for women's soccer," said Neil, who retired in 2007. "It's tough to stand up there and be a name presented forward. This is just an incredibly overwhelming honour, but I understand this is for women's soccer."

Neil, 40, said she's just one of many people who have helped spur the phenomenal growth of the women's game in Canada. And she cautioned the sport's decision-makers to not take that growth for granted.

"Canada has to be aware that the rest of the world is doing things to link systems together on the female side, from high-performance systems to grassroots. We need to continue to push development at a young age."

Woolstencroft, who skis on prosthetics after being born without legs below the knees and missing her left arm below the elbow, is Canada's most decorated winter Paralympian. She won eight gold medals at three Paralympics, including an incredible five-discipline sweep of the gold medals at the 2010 Games at Whistler.

"Bringing the sport of para-alpine to the hall, that means a lot," said Woolstencroft, now an engineer with B.C. Hydro.