Triathlon In 2009, The Year In Review

New Zealand’s #1 Growing Sport
Triathlon is still New Zealand’s #1 growing sport (% basis) according to Nielsen Research. Total participation sits at 99,000 participants. This is a proud achievement and all event organisers and clubs have played their role in this.

Standard Distance ITU Racing
With the luster of the Beijing Olympic Games now fading from memory, it is still with great pride that we look back on another year of triathlon and remember the great moments and success stories in our sport.

The ITU introduced the new World Championship Series format with more media, more money and more competition in fewer races. These events were hosted by some of the biggest cities in the world and certainly delivered on most promises to lift the profile of the sport globally.

New Zealanders played their part in the season. Who will forget Bevan Docherty and Andrea Hewitt sprinting to the tape to win in Tongyeong and Madrid respectively? The images and video footage were replayed and published all over the world with Kiwis to the forefront.

Consistent top ten performances from Hewitt saw her finish with a season end world ranking of 3, a stunning performance from an athlete on the rise. Docherty meanwhile was dogged by illness and accidents in a frustrating year that saw him finish ranked 17.

Best of the Kiwi men was Kris Gemmell who like Hewitt raced consistently well throughout the season with a string of top ten performances let down only by a 17th place finish on the Gold Coast to see the Palmerston North based Kiwi ranked 7 at season’s end.

Debbie Tanner raced consistently without achieving a breakthrough performance to finish at 18 while Sam Warriner had a season to forget with injury and illness wrecking any hopes of repeating her 2008 number one ranking – although there was the consolation of a World Aquathlon title on the Gold Coast.The surprise package though was without question Kate McIlroy who in her first season of Triathlon exceeded all expectations, ending the season ranked 20 in the world. Her year included victory in an ITU World Cup (Tiszaujvaros) and two 12th place finishes in World Championship races proving the Wellingtonian as one to watch next year.

Ironman and Long Distance Triathlon
Cameron Brown continues to lead the way in men’s Ironman racing, winning his 8th Bonita Ironman NZ title at Taupo in March. He was however pushed all the way by the incredible debut of Terenzo Bozzone as the former junior world triathlon champion finished second just over 7 minutes behind Brown – who by the way set a new course record of 8:18:04 at the age of 35.

While too early to call it a changing of the guard in women’s Ironman racing, the emergence of Gina Crawford was finally complete with her win over Bonita Ironman NZ champion Jo Lawn in Taupo. Ferguson backed up with wins at Challenge Wanaka and a bronze medal at Challenge Roth. Lawn is not about to disappear however and has vowed to return faster and stronger next year after a season affected by injury and illness.

Terenzo Bozzone backed up his Ironman debut with a string of strong performances over the 70.3 and Half Ironman races, winning a total of four 70.3 titles, including the World Championship at Clearwater in the USA.

Sam Warriner was another to excel in the longer distance, trying her hand at the Half Ironman distance. Warriner won the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman in race record time and qualified for the World 70.3 Championship some impressive international results.

Contact Tri Series and National Championships
The series grew in popularity with a 38% increase in entries from the previous season. Wanaka will be remembered for the summer thunderstorms that lashed the stunning location and threatened to shorten racing but otherwise the summer was kind to the series that visited Timaru, Kinloch, Takapuna, Wellington and Whangamata.

Elites such as Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, Sam Warriner, Andrea Hewitt, Nicky Samuels and Debbie Tanner appeared through the season, the highlight being the live television coverage at Takapuna and the Contact Nationals in Wellington with Docherty and Tanner taking out the major titles.

Martin van Barneveld (Wellington) and Nicky Samuels (Wanaka) took out the main elite trophies, both winning the Contact Cup for the 2008/09 season. Samuels won four races and added a runner up finish in the final round National Championship race in Wellington on Saturday. van Barneveld by contrast won thanks to his incredible consistency through the season, never finishing outside the top 6 throughout the season.

Contact Trophy medal winners were also recognized in all age groups, the highlight being the presence of Alec Hill and Anthony Sepie, both having raced regularly in the men’s 75 to 79 age group. The two received a rousing ovation from the 150 in attendance.
The Contact Tri Series has played a key role in building the profile of the sport through it’s coverage on Contact Tri TV, with a 23 part TV show including ITY footage reaching over 1 million people. This number does not include the Takapuna LIVE footage which reached in excess of 170,000 viewers.

Annual awards included the Club of the Year going to Hawkes Bay Triathlon and Multisport Club, the reasons for which became obvious as they also took out the Volunteer of the Year Award (Geoff Martin), Coach of the Year (Tim Jardine) and the Family of the Year (the Fuhrer family).

Technical Official of the year went to Juliet Fahey, whose dedication to furthering herself in the sport extended to funding her own overseas travel to international events.

North Harbour Triathlon Club won the Contact Club of the Year, awarded to the club with the best participation and performance standards at the 7 Contact Tri Series events through the summer.

Contact Tri Series
Wellington
National Championship – Standard Distance
Elite Men
1 Bevan Docherty (Taupo) 1:52:59, 2 Clark Ellice (New Plymouth) 1:53:19, 3 Graham O’Grady (Hamilton) 1:53:26
Elite Women
1 Debbie Tanner (Auckland) 2:04:54, 2 Nikki Samuels (Wanaka) 2:05:07, 3 Kate McIlroy (Wgtn) 2:08:33
U23 Men
1 Tony Dodds (Wanaka) 1:53:49, 2 Ryan Sissons (Auckland) 1:53:54, 3 Jos Hoetjes (Christchurch) 1:54:09
U23 Women
1 Rebecca Spence (Auckland) 2:06:06, Jackie Seebold (Auckland) 2:09:58

AGE GROUP DOMINATION
New Zealanders continued to show themselves to be one of the leading triathlon nations at World Championship events across all manner of distances and disciplines in 2009.

From Aquathlon to sprint to standard to 70.3 and Ironman racing, the New Zealand flag flew proudly around the world as we consistently performed above expectation against bigger and better resourced countries.

In all New Zealand managed a total of 488 athletes at ITU World Championship events in 2009. This included team functions, uniforms, travel, coaching support and on event assistance in everything from technical and mechanical support to emotional support.
Here are some of our achievers in a great year.

ITU World Triathlon Championship
Medal Winners
Standard Distance

FEMALES
18-19: Johanna Jackson, Bronze
20-24: Sarah Bryant, Silver
45-49: Kath Atkin, Silver
50-55: Cindy Taylor, Silver, Josie Sinclair, Bronze
60-64: Sue Gebbie, Silver
MALES
25-29: Rob Creasy, Silver
45-49: Stephen Farrell, Silver
50-55: Niels Madsen, Bronze
PARATRIATHLETES
TRI3 Female: Miriam Jenkins (NZL), Gold
TRI6 Male: Rob Matthews (NZL), Silver
Sprint Distance
FEMALES
16-19: Maddie Dillon, Gold
40-44: Kristine Reid, Silver
50-54: Pam Smith, Bronze
MALES
75-79: Anthony Sepie, Silver

ITU World Long Distance Triathlon Championships
Perth, Australia

NZ Age Group Medalists

F20 -24
Annika Edmondson Hawkes Bay Gold
Anna Lorimer Auckland Bronze
M20-24
Mark Bowstead Auckland Gold
F 25-29
Michelle Simpson North Harbour Silver
M 25 -29
Rob Creasy Christchurch Gold
F 30 -34
Belinda Harper North Harbour Silver
Jacinda Papps Wellington Bronze
M 35-39
Shane Vincent Hamilton Gold
M45-49
Walter Thorburn North Harbour Gold
Stephen Farrell North Harbour Silver
Greg Ball North Harbour Bronze
F 55-59
Sue Jones Canterbury Silver
M70-74
Neil Fleming Taupo Silver

ITU World Duathlon Championships
Concord, USA
NZ Age Group Medalists

Age Group Categories

F 18-19
Tessa Walker Canterbury Gold
M 18-19
Matt Milne Canterbury Bronze
F 20-24
Kelly Parlane North Harbour Gold
F 55-59
Brenda Fortune Canterbury Bronze
M 70-74
John Wood Kapiti Gold

XTERRA World Championships
New Zealand produced 4 World Champions at the recent Xterra World Championships wiht Bridget Keegan,
Monique Avery, Shea Reardon and Sharon Prutton all bringing home age group titles.

Here is the list of all the Kiwi finishers.

Ussher, Richard MPro Nelson, 02:44:33 11
Thorne, Scott MPro Hamilton,, 02:45:38 13
Smith, Jennifer FPro Gunnison, 03:23:34 16
Ralph, Martin M40 - 44 Auckland, 03:24:51 11
Keegan, Bridget F25 - 29 Napier, 03:39:29 1
Dunn, Catherine FPro Wellington, 03:45:06 20
Avery, Monique F20 - 24 Rotorua, 03:47:15 1
Norton, Mead M35 - 39 Auckland, 03:54:08 34
Orchard, Elizabeth F20 - 24 Auckland, 03:54:34 2
Benseman, Nikki F30 - 34 Pakuranga, 03:57:56 7
Sinclair, Josie F50 - 54 Auckland, 03:59:51 2
McCullough, Sandy F35 - 39 Taupo, 04:06:07 9
Reardon, Shea F15 - 19 Taupo, 04:08:43 1
Prutton, Sharon F55 - 59 Christchurch, 04:14:38 1
Woods, Mairead F30 - 34 Mt Eden, 04:17:30 13
Russell, Alison F50 - 54 New Plymouth, 05:07:16 7
Clark, Max M65 - 69 Glen Eden, 05:14:45 4

There were many other performances of note; outstanding efforts by triathletes across a range of events and disciplines and distances.
All are to be congratulated; unfortunately space limits our opportunity in this forum.