Tauranga triathlete Anneke Jenkins has picked up one of the most prestigious awards given out by Tri New Zealand.
The 23-year-old was awarded the 2012/13 Tri NZ Annual Award for Emerging Talent yesterday and she is currently in Europe training and racing. She is coached by respected Tri NZ accredited coach Brendon Downey, who is based on Australia's Gold Coast.
Jenkins is a relative newcomer to the sport. She is a former breaststroke specialist who swam at World Cup level, and has already made vast improvements in her first year in the sport as she showed in the Takapuna round of the Contact Tri Series in February, posting one of the quickest run splits on the day to earn a spot on the podium.
Triathlon Tauranga president, Adam Hazlett, says it is fantastic that she has won this award.
"She has done very well, very quickly and has committed fully to her training over the last 18 months and racing over the summer. She has a strong swimming background and has developed her running and cycling.