Young triathlon talent on show

The Whanganui River will be bubbling with action over the next two days as the NZ Secondary Schools Triathlon kicks into gear.

The cream of the nation's rising multisport stars have descended on Whanganui for the the David Jones Suzuki New Zealand Schools Triathlon Championships.

Run over two days starting tomorrow morning, 606 teenage athletes from Invercargill to Whangarei will compete in four events in age groups ranging from Under-12 to Under-19.

The events include the individual triathlon, the team triathlon, the aquathlon duathlon and the team tag triathlon that replaces the open swim from previous championships.

Whanganui and surrounding areas account for about 100 athletes with Collegiate fielding the largest squad with 37 entered.

Many have received coaching from New Zealand age group international Gareth Wright and Whanganui Multisport and Triathlon Club president Jimmy Hildreth.

Wright said while anything could happen on the day, there were several from the region who could feature prominently in the individual triathlon.

'It's really difficult to predict what may happen on the day, but young Mia Gemmell (daughter of top athlete Rob Gemmell) has been doing quite well lately. Her school mate Madison Gray could also feature prominently in the same age group," Wright said yesterday.

"Mia finished fifth in the U16 girls last year and races in the same grade this season. She will be another year older and much stronger this time in. Morgan Murray from Westmere and Hunter Gibson from Whanganui Intermediate in the U13 are also going well, as is Georgina Bryant from Nga Tawa. She is also in the U16 girls. The team events are far harder to gauge," Wright said.

Event organiser Ellie Heenan said the lead-up to such a massive event had gone smoothly and thanks to a large group of volunteers, mainly from the River City, and the support of local business houses through sponsorship, she expected the two days of competition to go just as smoothly.

Sport Whanganui has also lent support to the national event.

Naming sponsor David Johns Suzuki is a Whanganui-based company and is joined by many local businesses to make this event happen. They include age group sponsors Mitre 10 MEGA Wanganui, Traffic Safe NZ, Jurgens Demolition and Mud Ducks.

While more than 600 athletes will contest the events, they have been joined by family and supporters who, along with Whanganui spectators, can get close-up, uninterrupted views of the races.

The event is being held in the heart of the city with headquarters set up at Pakaitore (Moutoa Gardens) on the corner of Market Place and Taupo Quay. This is where the registration tent and event HQ area will be, as well as the finish line and transition area - a perfect spot for spectator viewing.

There will be lots going on in the Tri Hub over the two days, including the team from ZM playing lots of music and creating a chill out zone for the participants in between races.
Athlete registrations are between 12 noon and 4.15pm today, course familiarisation 3pm-4pm and opening ceremony 5pm at the Tri Hub at Pakaitore.

Road closures apply (see news story) and the Tri Hub will be open from 7am both mornings with racing starting around 8am each morning and finishing about 4pm followed by prizegiving ceremonies both days.

The individual triathlons and aquathlons will start with the swim legs in the Whanganui River downstream from the Union Boat Club, while the team and team tag events will begin upstream all returning to the transition area on Somme Pde opposite Pakaitore.

Each age group competes over different distances with U12/U13 swimming 250m, biking 7.9km and running 2km, U14 350m swim, 11.7km bike and 3km run, U16 500m swim, 15.5km bike and 4km run, while the older U19 grade swim 750km, bike 19.3km and run 5km.

The aquathlon involves just two disciplines, swimming and running over the same distances for each triathlon age group.