Summer of Triathlon Heats up in Kinloch This Weekend – International Field Lines up
Kinloch will ring to the tune of nearly 1000 triathletes with the latest round of the Contact Tri Series this weekend,
with National Sprint titles on the line for age group and elite athletes as well as the introduction of the Tri Tag
Relay on the Sunday morning at the same venue.
Elite racing will be at its best so far this season, with the entire Tri NZ High Performance Squad on the start line and
a host of world class internationals to add to the mix. London Olympians Ryan Sissons, Kate McIlroy and Andrea Hewitt
will all race, albeit Hewitt will take part only in the Oceania Cup Relay on the Sunday as she continues her recovery
from a race fall at Pegasus earlier this year.
Tri NZ National Coach Greg Fraine will oversee the New Zealand athletes and is looking forward to the weekend.
“It is always a competitive race and a great course, the swim is in a beautiful warm fresh water lake and the bike and
run are on a very testing and technical course, and Kinloch is just a beautiful place to race. This is a key race for
our athletes though, the first points race of the year for us where we can accumulate points towards world rankings and
can help set up the career of some of our younger athletes while setting up the year for some of the experienced ones.”
Adding international spice to the women’s mix is Maaike Caelers (Holland), the young Dutchwoman is looking to add to an
impressive 2012 season in which the Dutch team made a genuine impact at ITU level. She along with a strong Australian
development team will make their presence felt on the start line. They might all be chasing McIlroy though; the world
number 10 has been in great form this summer, the defending Kinloch champion winning at Pegasus and Wanaka in recent
weeks.
In the men’s world number 6 Laurent Vidal (France) will start as race favourite, but he will have his hands full in
fending off Sissons (Auckland) and Wanaka winner Tony Dodds (Wanaka) and countryman Tony Moulai while again the
Australians have a strong team on the start line.
“Australia always brings a strong team across, you don’t always know them by name at this stage but in 3 or 4 years they
are often starring for Australia so they will be strong,” said Fraine. “Laurent and Tony are obvious threats; they are
training in Christchurch and of course Maaike Caelers in the women’s race. Throw in our team and a host of promising
young athletes from around New Zealand and it makes for great racing.”
The elite U19 and U23 races will be fiercely competitive, led by members of the Tri NZ High Performance Squad such as
under 19’s Mikayla Nielsen (Waikato) and Elise Salt (Auckland) who both raced at the Australian Youth Olympics Festival
two weeks ago. Taupo hope Nicole Van der Kaay will also be looking to impress as she has so far this summer in the
Contact Series.
The men’s U19 will be led by another two Youth Olympians in Sam Ward (Auckland) and Troy McAlister (Invercargill) but
they will face a strong challenge from arguably the toughest field assembled in this age group for some years.
Sunday then sees the athletes return for the Tri Tag Relay and Oceania Cup Relay for the elites. With this mixed relay
concept on the programme at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, there is heightened interest in the style of racing that
creates a great atmosphere as each athlete completes a super sprint course before tagging a team mate, with the final
athlete crossing the finish line to record a time for the team of four. The elites race in mixed teams of two male and
two females.
Fraine is a huge fan of Team Racing and is looking forward to Sunday’s fast paced action.
“This is a key event; we pushed for this to be an Oceania Championship. Team racing suits our athletes well, we have a
good team in all three elite age grades, we want them to focus and get used to the team concept and learn from the
experience and for the U19’s to push the U23’s and in turn the elites and keep everyone on their toes.
“There is so much in the team relay that comes down to quick thinking and tactical decisions that happen on the race
course, the more we can throw the athletes into these situations the better before the Commonwealth Games and then Rio
if the event gets the tick for the Olympics which we think it will.”
Age groupers are being given their own taste of this exciting new format, with a Tri Tag Relay for all comers also being
held on the Sunday morning at Kinloch. Teams can enter as late as Saturday, with those competing as individuals
encouraged to form composite teams and return for another mad dash on the shore of Lake Taupo. Age group teams have no
restriction on the make-up of their four athletes, with any combination of male and female welcome in this fun event set
to take the sport to a new level.
Entries are open now for all events at Kinloch, simply visit www.triseries.co.nz for further information and get your team together, race solo on the Saturday and enjoy Kinloch and Taupo on the
Saturday night before racing in a Tri Tag Relay team on the Sunday morning. The price works out to just $37.50 per
participant, an affordable way to enjoy a great event at a great location.
Click here for race schedule and further information
Contact Tri Series 2012/13Date
Kinloch – National Sprint Champs and teams racing Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd Feb 2013
Takapuna – Super sprint on fully closed course Sunday 17th Feb 2013
Wellington – National & Oceania Standard Distance Champs Saturday 9th March 2013