Rotorua's Sam Osborne has won multisport events all over the world, but this weekend he finally ticked off one in his own backyard which had eluded him.
Osborne and Tauranga's Hannah Knighton were crowned King and Queen of the Lake at the Blue Lake Multisport Festival at the weekend having produced the fastest aggregate times across the aquathon, 2km open water swim and sprint triathlon.
Osborne is preparing to defend his Xterra Asia-Pacific title, starting in the Philippines in March, and he said the two-day Blue Lake event was a good way of finding out what he needed to work on.
He finished first in the aquathon, fourth in the 2km swim and first in the sprint triathlon for a combined time of 1h 53m 11s.
"It was a good tester, there are a couple of things I need to go back and sort out and a couple of things I was quite impressed with. I was a bit nervous about my running speed going into it and I was surprised at how well the legs responded. Hopefully that's promising heading into the Philippines," Osborne said.
While many have struggled with the hot weather this weekend, it was ideal preparation for racing in Asia.
"The Asian tour is one of those tours where if you don't race well in the heat, don't bother going. So, the hotter the better really, for preparation for those. This morning started getting hot, but ideally we would've been racing midday for me. It was a good stepping stone though.
"It's one of those things, I've raced all over the world but I've never actually won King of the Lake here. I've always come undone across the 2km swim - to finally come down and win the home race is awesome," he said.
Knighton finished second in the aquathon, fourth in the 2km swim and first in the sprint triathlon for a combined time of 2h 3m 9s. She said it was "really cool" to take the crown.
"I wasn't really expecting it, going into the [sprint triathlon] I just wanted to have a strong race and I was really happy with how I was swimming, running and biking - it all just came together.
"I think today I had to win the sprint triathlon by 13 seconds [to take the crown], so I was trying to not look back on the run and just go for it," Knighton said.
On Wednesday she flies to Adelaide for the Oceania Mixed Team Relay Championships.
"This was good preparation for that, to see where I'm at. It's a good way to gauge where you're at," she said.
Blue Lake Multisport Festival King and Queen of the Lake results
King:
1st Sam Osborne - 1h 53m 11s
2nd Josiah Ney - 1h 54m 45s
3rd Reuben Thompson - 1h 57m 43s
Queen:
1st Hannah Knighton - 2h 3m 9s
2nd Anneke Jenkins - 2h 4m 25s
3rd Sophie Corbidge 2h 5m 5s