Northland cyclist Fiona
Southorn is aiming for a podium
finish at next week's para-
cycling road world
championships in Quebec. The Marsden Wheelers rider
was selected in the eight-strong
New Zealand team, who left for
Canada yesterday to prepare for
the start of the week-long
championships on August 16. Southorn will ride intwo
events in the C5 division - the
22.5km time trial on August 19,
followed by the 57km race on
August 21. There are five divisions
at the world championships and the
C5 category is for the least
disabled riders, Southorn explained. The experienced cyclist, who competed at the
Beijing Paralympics and at the
2007 world championships in
France, said she was pleased
with how her preparation had
gone. On Sunday, she was third in
the Auckland Individual Time
Trials 25km, in the Masters 2
division. ``My main focus is the 22.5km
time trial at these
championships. I'm aiming for a
top three finish in that ... I will
just go out and have fun in the
57km but hopefully I will be
competitive enough to place.'' She did not medal at her
previous two paralympic
competitions, and said she
hoped to turn her luck around
at next week's championships.
It was a relatively strong
Kiwi team headed for Canada _
with a few ``newbies'' mixed in
with several experienced
athletes, Southorn said. Beijing Paralympian bronze
medalist Jayne Parsons heads
the contingent and will ride the
tandem cycle with former
Olympic rower Sonia Waddell
as her pilot. The pair only met a couple of
months ago after Waddell, 37,
was approached by team coach
Brendon Cameron, partner and
coach of former Olympic gold
medalist Sarah Ulmer. New Zealand: Samantha
Eddie (Kapati), Jamie Kidd
(Nelson-Marlborough), Rob
Matthews and pilot Justin Kerr
(Auckland/Waikato), Jayne
Parsons and pilot Sonia Waddell
(Wellington/Waikato), Tiffiney
Perry (Waikato), Sue Reid
(Waikato), Nathan Smith
(Taranaki), Fiona Southorn
(Northland).
