International Field For Oceania Sprint Triathlon Titles – Over 700 Participants Lining Up On The Day

An international triathlon field will descend on Taupo for the latest round of the Contact Tri Series at Kinloch this Sunday, with elite men’s and women’s races doubling as the ITU Oceania Sprint Championship with ITU points on the line.

That incentive has seen a number of international triathletes head to Taupo, led by world U23 champion Emma Jackson and Dutch veteran Lisa Mensink (one of five Dutch women in the field) in the women’s. They will face strong opposition from two time Contact Series winner Nicky Samuels and a host of New Zealand’s emerging talent including Sophie Corbidge and Rebecca Kingsford.

In the men’s race it will be Australians Brendan Sexton, Drew Box and Jamie Huggett looking to mix it up with the leading Kiwis but amongst the favourites will also be Andreas Giglmayr, one of the big improvers in the international stage last year, the Austrian finished 15th at the World Champs finale in Budapest.

Amongst the best flying the Kiwi colours will be Ryan Sissons (Auckland), Tony Dodds (Wanaka), Martin Van Barneveld (Wellington) and Clark Ellice (New Plymouth), with Ellice racing against his former Tri NZ High Performance Squad team mates for the first time since his six month suspension was handed down late last year.

Sissons is realistic about his chances at this stage of the season but knows he can mix it with the best.

“I’m really looking forward to the race this weekend, with a good international field turning up to play. For me coming off a five day cycle tour last week I will be looking to see how the form is during the race and plan from there. I know I'm fit it's just a matter of if I have it on the day or not.”

For Van Barneveld (who has recently moved to Christchurch from Wellington), he too is looking forward to a race with an international flavour and knows he must swim quicker if he is to feature on the podium.

“Kinloch is a great venue and the field is international so it should be great. The last couple of races that I have done I have made it hard on myself by missing the swim pack. So this weekend I need to pay more attention to detail at the very start of the race in the first 200-300m of the swim. I know I can't win the race there, but lately I have been losing it there. I feel that I am riding and running strong but am not giving myself the opportunity to show that, so I have two goals this weekend; to make the front swim pack, and then to run fast which should take care of itself.”

Tony Dodds (Wanaka) was in good form in Wanaka recently, finishing a close second to Frenchman Laurent Vidal, he heads to Kinloch as defending champion but knows the ante has been upped with the Oceania Sprint title on the line.

“I've always enjoyed Kinloch with the hill, the crowds, and the weather has always been great! Of course there will be a bit of pressure as I am the defending champion, and it is going to be harder than last year with the Aussies coming across, but we shall see.

“Trainings been hard and I am where I should be at the moment. I would have liked to have had some more swim/bikers in there with the likes of Tom Davison and Dylan McNeice as we have been training together for the past 3 months and have some success with breakaways, but this is going to be a tough race and I have to be prepared for anything, whether it's a breakaway or leaving it all to the run. But Aaron Barclay (Riversdale) is there and he is a strong swim/biker so a bit of South Island roughness might have to be introduced!”

Racing also includes the popular Erin Baker Trophy race; a standard distance event named after one of New Zealand’s all time greats in the sport. The strong reputation of the race and the name on the trophy has lured a quality field including Ironman champions Cameron Brown and Jo Lawn, both of whom will use the race as a tune up for Ironman NZ next month.

Other events on the day include races for beginners (Contact 3:9:3) and children (Contact 1:2:1) with triathlon as always providing options for everyone, regardless of ability, age or background. It is one of the biggest triathlon events in the country with over 700 participants of all backgrounds taking part on the day, from 6 year old children through to the some of the best elites in the world.

Tri NZ acknowledges the support and cooperation of the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board for providing access to Lake Taupo to hold the event. Entries are still open online at www.triseries.co.nz with late entries accepted at registration on Saturday from 4pm to 7pm on the Kinloch Lakefront.

Full race schedule and course maps are available at www.triseries.co.nz