News Update, Nov 30 - Courtesy Ian Hepenstall, Queenstown LOC

Olympic Champion warms up for SBS ITU Triathlon Worlds

Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion Simon Whitfield showed he will be a force to be reckoned with in next weekend’s SBS ITU Triathlon world championships when he easily won a warm-up race in Queenstown today.

Whitfield stretched his legs to win the Zone sprint triathlon run over part of the age group course today, heading offing Canadian compatriot Brent McMahon.

He was pleased with his form in the 750m swim 21km bike 5km run that finished at Millbrook Resort in Arrowtown.

``It’s a good pointer. It means I am over the travel and into good sleep patterns already,’’ the 28-year-old said.

Whitfield said the course and the region reminded him much like his native Canada.

``It’s like all the best parts of Canada all in one place. In fact I rang my wife today and told her to get over here – this is a place she has to see. It’s just fantastic.

``I like the course. It’s a bit like triathlon courses used to be – swim in a beautiful lake and ride up to a golf course and run around it. But it’s a mighty hard course. That run after the bike is really hard.’’

Whitfield, McMahon and New Zealand elite Craig Watson, ranked No 6 in the world, were in the lead group in the climb from Lake Hayes before the Kiwi punctured midway through the bike.

This left the Canadians clear at the front of the pack with Whitfield clearing out early on the run before taking the second lap around Millbrook more casually.

Japan’s Akiko Sekine was the leading female in 13^th place overall, finishing ahead of Canadians Samantha McGlone and Lauren Groves. The leading New Zealander was Hamilton’s Michelle Hyland.

Invercargill’s Sid Cumming was the leading veteran competitor.

Approximately 100 triathletes took part, while a number of top-ranked elites also competed in teams.

The major wave of competitors arrive today and tomorrow, with the world aquathlon (swim run) championships in Queenstown on Tuesday, official opening on Wednesday, age group competition next Saturday and elite races on Sunday.

Leading results, Zone sprint triathlon, Lake Hayes-Arrowtown:

Open men: Simon Whitfield (Canada) 1:00.27, 1; Brent McMahon (Canada) 1:01.22, 2; James Attard (Australia) 1:02.07, 3. Top New Zealander: Andrew Young (Wellington) 1:04.06, 7.

Open Women: Akiko Sekine (Japan) 1:06.52, 1; Samantha McGlone (Canada) 1:07.16, 2; Lauren Groves (Canada) 1:07.28, 3. Leading New Zealander: Michelle Hyland (Hamilton) 1:08.38, 4.

Veteran: Sid Cumming (Invercargill) 1:07.21, 1; Tony Goodall (Invercargill) 1:10.45, 2; Cor Story (Auckland) 1:13.32, 3.

Live Coverage of the elite races from the Queenstown ITU Triathlon World Championships on www.triathlon.org begins on Sunday, December 6 at 1:00 pm local time, or midnight on December 5 GMT.