Candice Hammond – 3rd overall

Erin Furness – 6th overall, 1st in age group, Kona qualification

Coach Keegan – 7th overall

Melanie Hansen – Super debut

David Bullen – PB swim and bike, will finish the job next time

Justin M – Solid race after very busy year with first child and running his own business

Candice Hammond – Winner New Plymouth Half Ironman – course record
– Challenge Wanaka 2nd
– NZ Half Ironman Champs 2nd

Rachel Hamill – Winner at Rotorua Contact series Olympic distance
– 3rd at Whangamata Contact series Olympic distance

Tamsyn Hayes – 5th at Challenge Wanaka
1st Ashburton Half Ironman
3rd at Rotorua Contact Series Olympic distance

Erin Furness – Winner Karapiro Half Ironman
– 2nd New Plymouth Half Ironman

Adam Palmer – Podium Age group New Zealand Half Ironman Championships

Julie Williamson – 3rd Ashburton Half Ironman

David Bullen – PB over Half Ironman and olympic distance and first top 10 in age group Half Ironman Championships

Monique Berger – Completed her first half Ironman – Woo hoo, after coming from zero fitness/background 1yr ago

Davina Jones – PB over Half Ironman distance, taking on IMNZ for first time

Not only have the coaches been coaching well but also racing well –

Graham – Winner at Taup Half ironman, New Plymouth Half Ironman, Rotorua Olympic distance, Tinman Olympic distance and the big one at New Zealand Half Ironman Championships in Tauranga with a Course Record

Keegan Williams – Challenge Wanaka 4th
New Plymouth Half Ironman 4th
Rotorua Half Ironman 4th

Candice had her first big Iron distance win in Singapore at the Metaman. Those asia races are always a warzone and this one was no different, Candice had prepared well and is a Camel in the heat. She took out some solid names including Cosmor, Granger, Harper and Zelenkova and has moved up another level. Still plenty of work to do on her swim, hardest thing for me at the moment is keeping her away from the 100+ people giving her free advice about her swim.

Rachel got the double at the ITU world championships in Auckland, on the Wednesday she took out the aquathon and then on the monday she won the 40-44yr age group by a whopping 9min. She was also 2nd overall out of all the women 20sec behind the fastest. Rachel has plenty more to come and I am picking her as the Jack Foster of women’s triathlon in New Zealand if she wants it. A great result from the mum of three from Te Pahu.

I also have to mention Troy, Kona didn’t go to plan but he has been in winning form taking out the overall in his Local Half Ironman. Another athlete Kim had a solid result at age group worlds after a bike crash only a few weeks earlier. I have several other athletes ticking away in the background who will be firing this summer, so watch this space

IMNZ, Erin qualifies for Kona, 2nd in agegroup
Robyn qualifies for Kona, 2nd in agegroup
Dave PBs over distance
Ahmad PB over distance

NZ olympic distance champs, Rachel wins agegroup

Challenge Wanaka – Candice 4th overall, Tamsyn 7th overall

NZ Half ironman champs, Tamsyn 3rd Overall, Erin podium age group

New Plymouth 70.3, Candice 1st Overall, Erin 4th overall, Ange wins age group

NZ worlds qualification Auckland – Kim qualifies

Taupo Half ironman, Candice 3rd overall, fastest run split

Whangamata Contact Tri – Rachel wins agegroup

Kinloch Contact Tri – Rachel wins agegroup

Great job team…

Tinman Triathlon
Fleur Wallace PB
Robyn Gutry 2nd Age group
Scott Miller 3rd Age group
Scott Wrenn 2nd Age group

Iron Maori (Half Ironman)
Katrina Whaanga 1st Age group
Mary Davis 3rd Age group

Candice Hammond – 1st Karapiro Half Ironman

– 1st Gisborne Duathlon

– 4th Auckland marathon, 2h56min, 20min + PB

Tamsyn Hayes   - 2nd Ashburton Half Ironman

Erin Furness   - 5th age group long course world championships

Grant Tuffery – 2nd age group Karapiro Half Ironman, 35min + course PB

Chas Bickford-Smith – 2nd age group Karapiro Half Ironman, 50min + course PB

Kim Munro – Qualfied for NZ team, Auckland olympic distance

Ben Moore – Qualified for NZ team, Auckland olympic distance

Sarah Walker – 2nd Karapiro Half Ironman

Adrian Kitto – 10min+ PB Auckland Sprint triathlon

Ange Walker, Scott Miller – Long course world championships, strong improvements across bike and run

*Candice Hammond placing 4th overall at the inaugural Challenge Henley, again dominating the bike with the fastest split

*Erin Furness wining the Hawkes Bay Marathon

*Candice and Erin cleaning up at the Cambridge Half Marathon, 1st and 2nd respectively, even after a hard 3.5hr bike ride before and just making the start time!

* Troy Nelson placing 13th at the 70.3 Worlds in the 40-44 age group

*Hannah Palmer getting a PB at the Whangamata 10k

Good work team!
Plenty more to come

The Swim

So you have a 2 kilometre swim to start the day, with all the hype, adrenalin and nervous energy flowing you don’t have to worry about going out hard. Just take your time, get into a good rhythm and focus on drafting off the other swimmers. The swim should feel comfortable as remember you have 90 kilometers to cycle and 21kilometers to run still. If you red line it and come out of the swim exhausted it will be a very long day.

Keegan at Ironman Brazil

The Bike

Onto the bike, and its 90ks, its best to split the ride into 15km pieces or even smaller and work away at them. The first 15km should be spent getting relaxed, finding your legs and again getting into a comfortable intensity which you can hold……..

Check out the rest of the article here

Graham put together a very solid preformance in the strongest field seen all year in the states.

Out of the water in the lead with Potts, solid bike and a 1.14 run to finish it off!

Check out his blog for all the details http://grahamogrady.blogspot.com/