Andrea Hewitt (left) and Nicky Samuels (right) Bronze occupy the tier one high performance berths in Triathlon New Zealand's elite squad. Photo / File.
Andrea Hewitt and Nicky Samuels occupy the tier one high performance berths in Triathlon New Zealand's elite squad for 2016 named this morning.
TNZ's elite selection commission has named 10 athletes in the high performance squad but only Hewitt, who last week confirmed she will compete at next year's Rio Olympic Games despite the recent tragic death of her fiancé and coach Laurent Vidal, and Wanaka-based Samuel are the only athletes in tier one.
Hewitt has a current world ranking of No. 2 while Samuels did not compete this year but held a world ranking of No. 5 in 2014.
There are three tiers based on past performances and tracking towards pinnacle events. Each will receive support to enable them to train and race as fulltime athletes, albeit some will continue their tertiary studies.
With an eye to stability towards 2016 and building towards the next Olympic year of 2020, 10 athletes were named with highlights being the elevation of Auckland's Simone Ackermann to tier two and the inclusion for the first time of Tayler Reid with the 19 year old from Gisborne moving from tier three to the national talent squad. Reid will work in collaboration with his personal coach Stephen Sheldrake in Gisborne and the Tri NZ high performance programme in Cambridge during what is seen as a 'transition year.'
Ackermann is joined in tier two by Wanaka-based Tony Dodds and Aucklander Ryan Sissons while Sophie Corbidge, Elise Salt and Sam Ward, all from Auckland and Taupo's Nicole van der Kaay are alongside Reid in tier three which is development focussed.
Tri NZ high performance director Graeme Maw said he was delighted for all the triathletes but singled out Ackermann and Reid for special mentions.
"This is a quality group of young people, all of whom are totally dedicated to their sport and apply themselves with great passion and commitment and contribute to our culture here in Cambridge," he said.
"The different Tiers reflect different stages of their careers and development, with Rio the obvious focus for tier one and two, while the tier three athletes are more likely looking further ahead to Tokyo 2020 and beyond.
"Simone is deserving of her rise in the squads, after a year that included a career best 10th place finish at the Auckland World Series race, backed up by a number of top 25 performances and a season ending 26th place at the Chicago Grand Final. She is now clearly a contender for a place in Rio 2016.
"Tayler is a young man of great promise who has shown strong progress through the junior ranks supported by his coach Stephen Sheldrake, with his year highlighted by a seventh place finish in elite company at the Osaka Continental Cup event and an 11th place finish at the ITU world junior men's championships in a race that was turned into a duathlon due to weather concerns. His elevation marks the second athlete after Nicole (van der Kaay - coached by Cameron Durno) to progress from the National Talent Squad into the HP Squads."
Following on from Reid and van der Kaay's progress from the national talent squad to the high performance squads, several others have been identified to receive High Performance Sport New Zealand's new initiative where Performance Enhancing Grants (PEGs) are made available to assist emerging athletes looking to bridge the gap to the high performance squads.
Taupo's Kyle Smith, Aucklander Dan Hoy and Palmerston North pair Lizzie Stannard and Jaimee Leader have been awarded PEGs through the national talent squad, and Porirua's Deb Lynch will receive some support to join the high performance training squad to continue the progress she made last year as an under 23 competitor.
Maw said that while standards are high, the selection commission still want to see more athletes challenging for inclusion in the high performance squad.
"Tri NZ makes no apology for a policy that has seen the bar set high to be a part of the high performance squads and while there were some borderline selection decisions with robust debate amongst the selection commission, those named today have earned it but must continue to show results and progress towards their goals.
"Tri NZ would however like to see more athletes in the conversation, something we will see occur over the next few years as the work of the national talent programme bears fruit. But the standards and expectations are there for all athletes to work towards, there is no question we would like to see more achieving at that level."
The coaching team will continue to be headed by Jon Brown, who will oversee Tri NZ's Rio 2016 campaign, and Tim Brazier who is focussing on Tokyo 2020.
The pair will work with other key personal coaches including the likes of John Hellemans and Stephen Farrell.
Tier two and three athletes are based fulltime in Cambridge, working with the coaching and support staff at the Tri NZ high performance hub and living in an environment that sees them rub shoulders with elite rowers and cyclists and have access to the best sports science and medical support. Tier one athletes spend less time in Cambridge but will come in at key times during the year.
All athletes are involved in overseas camps and campaigns throughout the year, depending on their pinnacle events and schedules.
Triathlon New Zealand 2016 High Performance Squads
Tier 1
Andrea Hewitt (Chch)
Nicky Samuels (Wanaka)
Tier 2
Simone Ackermann (Auck)
Ryan Sissons (Auck)
Tony Dodds (Wanaka)
Tier 3
Sophie Corbidge (Auck)
Elise Salt (Auck)
Samuel Ward (Auck)
Nicole van der Kaay (Taupo)
Tayler Reid (Gisborne)