While the spotlight will be on Sunday’s blockbuster World Cup racing in Napier, the next gen of Kiwi triathlon is also poised to leave their mark on Hawke’s Bay’s big weekend of swim, bike and run.
A five day talent ID and skill building camp run by Tri NZ at Mitre 10 Park Hawke’s Bay this week will reach its climax on Friday morning with girls (9am) and boys (9:45am) super sprint races.
The 200m swim, 5km bike and approx. 1km races will be staged on closed roads immediately surrounding and within the impressive Hastings facility, with the swim in the park’s water polo lake.
Twenty five Kiwi teens, ranging in age from 14-18, have been introduced to the Tri NZ development pathway at the live in camp. An additional 10 athletes and two coaches from Triathlon Samoa have been immersed into the camp and are sure to add Pacific panache to Friday’s racing.
Most of the camp attendees are expected to stay on for the finale of the Tri NZ Junior Series on Sunday with the U16 and U19 races part of the wider Napier Triathlon Festival. The junior events will be held on the same Ahuriri foreshore course as the elite men’s and women’s World Cup races.
Tri NZ Development Lead Chris Willett has overseen the camp with assistance from the national governing body’s Women and Girls lead, Tamara Reed, Arrowtown based HPSNZ Development Coach Tess Mattern and Tri Tauranga Development Lead Blake Miller.
“It’s always exciting to work with new talent as we grow our HP funnel with these kids who aren’t yet part of the Tri NZ Development Squad,” Willett said.
“A lot of them will ideally move into that space in two to three years’ time, so the more we can do now to integrate them into the system, the better it will be when they move into that HP stream.”
As was the case at an earlier camp planned around the Rotorua’s Blue Lakes Multisport Festival in late Jan., the Hastings getaway has featured an encouraging male-female split that is close to 50-50.
The focus in Hastings has again been on developing not only physical capacity and race skills, but nurturing the life skills necessary to operate in an competitive HP environment.
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Napier Triathlon Festival – Fan Guide
Sunday, Feb. 23
8:00am – Tri NZ Suzuki Series Sprint Championship – Men
8:10am – Tri NZ Suzuki Series Sprint Championship – Women
8:15am – Teams Race
9:35am – Tri NZ Junior Series Final – Men
9:36am – Tri NZ Junior Series Final – Women
9:45am – Napier Tri-er – Men
9:46am – Napier Tri-er – Women
11:15am – World Triathlon Cup Napier – Women
1:15pm – World Triathlon Cup Napier – Men
2:30pm – Medal Ceremony & Prize Giving
Watch live on TVNZ+
ELITE WOMEN – Coverage Starts 11:05am
ELITE MEN – Coverage starts 1:05pm
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Cambridge Tune-Up
Tri NZ Development Squad members have benefitted from their own Napier prep, joining Tri NZ’s annual New Year’s High Performance Camp in Cambridge.
Athletes from each of Tri NZ’s four tier HP system – 1-Elite, 2-HP Potential, 3-Pre HP Talent and 4-Talent ID – were exposed to physiological testing and group training and season planning sessions leading into the Oceania season opener.
The 17-day camp included deep dives with exercise physiologist Dan Smart and nutritionist Jeni Pearce, both HPSNZ staffers, at the HPSNZ Cambridge National Training Centre – aka Grassroots Trust Velodrome.
Willett is excited to see how the Tier 4 youngsters under his charge back up in the upcoming Oceania season starting at World Cup Napier.
“Cambridge was great, integrating the development squad kids into the wider HP programme and just developing that working relationship,” he said.
“The majority of the kids train on their own the majority of the time, so coming into an environment where they’re challenged by coaches, and challenged by other athletes is where gains are made.
“But now we all need some racing…that’s where the rubber truly hits the road.”
Canterbury’s Ben Airey and Manawatu’s Hayley Cornwall are two Tier 4s especially champing at the bit after both fell ill following October’s World Triathlon Junior (U19) Championships in Torremolinos, Spain.
Struck down by Covid, Airey is only recently back into training and Cornwall returned barely a month ago after battling a viral infection.
