U19's Race for Olympic Games spots in Rotorua
The first round of the Contact Tri Series at Rotorua’s Blue Lake on November 23rd will feature a one off trial race for next January’s Australian hosted Youth Olympics Festival in Sydney.
Tri NZ has chosen Rotorua as the one and only trial but has left the door open with the third athlete in both male and female categories being selected at their discretion should bad luck or mechanical failure intervene on the 23rd.
The Youth Olympics are an opportunity for young elite triathletes to experience racing on the international stage in a pressure cooker environment, something that Tri NZ U23 and Youth High Performance Manager Stephen Sheldrake says is vital in their long term development.
“It is one thing to train and race quickly in a run of the mill event with nothing much riding on it but as we know from the Olympic Games themselves, the pressure of such a high profile race can affect athletes in different ways.
“There is nothing like experience to help an athlete cope and to help us understand them a little bit better as well. Sydney next year is a wonderful chance to race against the best young triathletes in the world but more importantly, log some vital racing experience in a one off show down with the pressure on to perform.”
The first two athletes across the line in Rotorua in both the male and female race will earn automatic selection for the Youth Olympics, with the selectors able to use their discretion with the third athlete in each.
In the male’s race Sheldrake expects Jos Hoetjes, Tom Davison, Edward Rawles, Michael Poole and Cameron Todd to contend while in the female’s look for Rebecca Kingsford, Teresa Adams and Sophie Corbidge to battle it out.
Corbidge however has had stress fractures and may not yet complete the run leg in Rotorua – and may not even start the race, leaving the possibility of her selection in the hands of the selectors if she can recover sufficiently well during the summer.
The beauty of a selection race at age group level however is the possibility for surprises.
“We think we have a good handle on who our leading junior elites are but you just never know,” said Sheldrake.
“The thing at this age group is the potential for a relative ‘unknown’ to emerge or for a well performing athlete to get serious about their training and have a great day. The incentive is there for them to do that and book a ticket for Sydney.”
The course in Rotorua consists of a wetsuit swim in the Blue Lake, an undulating but not overly demanding out and back bike leg and a run featuring an uphill section at the start to test the athlete’s strength with speed called upon for the final run home to the finish.
The Rotorua Contact Tri Series will also feature racing over the standard distance (Contact Trophy) and the first edition of the new race for beginners or more ‘social’ athletes the Contact 3:9:3 (300m swim, 9km bike, 3km run).
Entries are open now at www.triathlon.org.nz
Contact Tri Series
Rotorua
November 23rd 2008
Contact U19
750m swim (1 lap), 20km cycle (2 laps) out to the buried village. 5km (1lap)
Contact Trophy
1500m Swim (2 laps), 40km Cycle (5 laps) hilly, 11km run two 5.5km laps around the blue lake
Contact 3:9:3
300m swim (close to the shore), 9km cycle (flat course to buried village), 3km run (flat 1 lap)
Australian Youth Olympics Festival
14 to 18 January 2008
Sydney