Contact National Schools Triathlon Champs Hits Karapiro

The Contact National Schools Triathlon Championships are held tomorrow at Lake Karapiro in the heart of the Waikato, with a great response from schools the length and breadth of the country in one of the fastest growing and most popular schools sports events on the calendar.

Over 700 participants will line up in racing from year 7 right through to the elite U16 and U19 age categories, with individuals racing throughout the morning and the increasingly popular teams racing in the afternoon when many of the athletes back up and race alongside rather than against their school mates.

Event Director Haidee Stratford says the buzz around this event is something special.

“Most triathlons have a special feel, there is something about the sport and its participants, a camaraderie that is hard to find in other sports. But that is magnified at the Contact National Schools Championships when you have the pride of the school on the line as well. There is nothing quite like cheering for the school crest or uniform as they race past doing their best for themselves, but also in the name of the school.

“We will have elite young athletes here but we will have plenty just giving the sport a go, that again is the beauty of triathlon, everyone can mix comfortably at the same event and race the same course together. This is as much about participation and encouraging the first timers as it is watching some who may one day go on to race at the very top level of the sport.

“The numbers this year are again fantastic and with the addition of the National Open Water Swim Champs to the programme, we have almost 900 total entries across all events, an amazing number for an event that is still very young.”

Athletes, coaches and families will be travelling from as far south as Gore High School and Southland Girls and Boys College’s and as far north as Whangarei. There are many small or independent schools and regions represented too with the likes of Whangamata Area School, Wakatipu High School and Huanui College just to name a few.

Racing begins with age group individuals from 8am and finishes with the final teams race (U19) at 3pm before prize giving on the bank of the Lake at 4.30pm. Racing will feature the best young talent in the country, all looking to add their names to an already impressive list of school champions that have gone on to succeed at age group and elite level in the sport.

A welcome addition to this year’s event is the first ever National Open Water Swim Champs for Schools. This is taking place this afternoon (Wednesday) with many of the triathletes taking part and staying over or returning tomorrow for the triathlon. Close to 200 children will swim for national titles today in a great response to the inaugural championships in what is now an Olympic event and one generating strong interest throughout the country.