Games in his sights,Reid to go ‘hard out’ in crunch race

Tayler Reid

GISBORNE triathlete Tayler Reid left New Zealand yesterday for the biggest race of his career to date — the ITU World Cup series event in Tongyeong, South Korea on Saturday.

The 21-year-old knows a good performance in the sprint distance — 750-metre swim/20-kilometre bike/5km run — in his last ITU World Cup race for the year would enhance his chances of selection for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast.

“It’s something I have been working towards for a long time and I’m only one race away,” said Reid. “I’m a bit nervous but excited at the same time. I’ve never raced in South Korea before and there’s a lot at stake.

“Some of the top triathletes won’t be competing — the likes of the Brownlee brothers, (Jonathan and Alistair) and Mario Mola — but there is so much depth in the sport.

“There will be a lot of top young guns racing, including Dan Hoy from New Zealand.”

Reid goes into the race on the back of some impressive performances in his first season in the elite division, including third in the ITU world championship in the Czech Republic.

He also raised eyebrows when he was second out of the water behind Jonathan Brownlee on an Olympic distance course (1500m swim) of the world series in Yokohama, Japan.

Reid continued that form into the 40km cycle and led the runners out on the 10km run.

The fairytale continued until 2.5km from the finish when he “ran out of steam” and ended up 24th.

“In the swim and the bike and for most of the run I was there with some of the world’s best triathletes. I’ve just got to take it to the next level and that’s what I hope to do on Saturday.

“This is it for me . . . it’s all about focusing on what I can control and not worrying about others in the race.

“I’m going to go hard out in the swim and on the bike, and if I’m hurting then I’ll know that others are hurting.”

Reid’s coach and former professional triathlete Stephen Sheldrake said he “was in good shape”.

“Tayler’s had a good block of training since coming back from Rotterdam (where he placed 11th over the Olympic distance course) and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t have a good race.

“He’s very motivated. It’s the last hurdle in what is a complicated Commonwealth Games selection policy but he knows what he needs to do.

“But he also knows that anyone can take out these races.”

Reid is ranked 15th in a field of 71 heading into this race.

“It means he will walk out on the pontoon for the swim in 15th spot, look around and decide where he wants to start from,” said Sheldrake.

“Sometimes it can make a difference to the swim, depending on the tides and the placing of the buoys.

“It’s been a long season but it’s the same for all the athletes.”