Mount Maunganui is preparing for an invasion of Australians with their eyes on the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman title.
The triathlon race - a pinnacle event of the New Zealand season - is on Saturday.
Australian women have won five times in the past decade and are sending another strong contingent for, arguably, the top-rating half ironman on either side of the Tasman.
Leading the way is three-time winner Rebekah Keat, along with fellow Australians Nicole Ward and Carrie Lester and former Kiwi Anna Cleaver, making a return to the sport at the top level.
New Zealand's main hope rests on the country's most successful endurance triathlete, Jo Lawn, who is hoping to add a third Port of Tauranga Half title to her impressive resume.
With defending champion Sam Warriner bypassing the event after just returning to training, Lawn will assume the lead role for the Kiwis. She won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, was runner-up in 2008 and 2009 and finished fourth last year in the race she uses as a key barometer for her progress towards Ironman New Zealand in March.
"In the earlier times here it was about the endurance athletes dominating," Lawn said.
"But in more recent times, there have been more of the Olympic distance athletes coming up to the Half distance.
"I've always said that this course suits those shorter course specialists more. Really, for me it is about having a really good race and ensuring I have ticked all the boxes with Ironman New Zealand coming up.
"It's a fantastic race and I will be doing my best to win. And by the number of Australians who now come here, it shows that this is a race that everyone wants to win."
Lawn has won Ironman New Zealand seven times and also built up a superb record at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii with six top 10 finishes in the past eight years. She was 20th in Hawaii last year - diagnosed with hyponatremia after taking on too much water in the brutally hot conditions.
Keat has been a highly popular figure at Mount Maunganui, where she first gained international attention after winning three times straight from 2002. The Gold Coast athlete won Ironman Australia three years ago. She was third at Mount Maunganui last year with the second-best run time, and followed with runner-up in Ironman Australia and victory in Ironman Louisville.
Ward is a remarkable Australian who mixes a high-profile career in the banking industry with a career as a professional triathlon. The Sydneysider did not find triathlon until she was 29 when watching a friend race. She turned professional four years ago and has enjoyed podium finishes around the world and top six finishes at Ironman events in USA and New Zealand.
Lester, 30, won the Australian long distance title, the Canberra Half, her age group at the ITU Long Distance Worlds and her age group at the ITU Worlds in the Gold Coast two years ago.
Last year, she stepped up to place fifth in the Abu Dhabi long distance duathlon before surprising many with a brilliant victory at Ironman Australia.
Cleaver is a former Kiwi who was a highly promising young triathlete and former national age group swim champion. She moved to Sydney where for the past six years she has concentrated on corporate life before returning to the sport last year. In her first race she was fifth at the 70.3 Singapore before winning the Port Macquarie Half in November.
Others to watch include Tauranga's Janine Simpson, who also came into the sport late after establishing her career. She was fourth overall in the national Olympic distance series and bounced back after a layoff with injury to win a Contact Series event and was runner-up in the Tinman Triathlon on home turf a month ago.
The men's battle features teenager Michael Poole defending his title against a field including seven-time winner Cameron Brown, 2008 winner Kieran Doe, the Bowstead brothers, James and Mark, Gold Coast Half runner-up Callum Millward and Graham O'Grady, who has already won the Karapiro and Rotorua half ironman races this season.
The race has again attracted a sold-out field, including 750 individuals and 175 teams, and starts at 6.30am on Saturday.
Australians out in force to take home Port of Tauranga Half Ironman
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