Aquathlon Hits The Ground Running

The first week of summer saw the 2013 Jennian Homes NZ Aquathlon Championships take place in Mount Maunganui on Friday, 6 December.

The annual event had previously been held in Nelson; however, the success of Friday’s event has further cemented Mount Maunganui as the premier multi-sport location in New Two race distances were on offer; a 500 metre swim and 2.5km run for the under 15 year olds and a 1km swim and 5km run for the adult competitors.

The challenging course set in Pilot Bay and the base track of Mauao also doubled as a selection event for the World Aquathlon Championships, to be held in Edmonton, Canada in The early summer heat saw 89 competitors across all age groups and distances competing in the event, with major sponsor, Shane Lye from Jennian Homes Bay of Plenty placing third in his category and earning a trip to Canada.

Tayler Reid, a 17 year old from Gisborne was first across the finish line in the main race completing the course in just less than 30 minutes. Jamie Leader, another 17 year old, was the first female competitor to finish with a time of 33 minutes 50 seconds.

“Tayler was outstanding, he has a bright future and really showed the more seasoned athletes the way. Jamie is also going from strength to strength under the guidance of former Olympian Samantha Warriner,” says event organiser Sheryl McLay .

“A huge thank you to Jennian Homes for their support of the event, the evening was awesome and I’m really happy with how it went. We’re already looking forward to next year and making the event bigger and better.”

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