Hawke's Bay triathlete Fred Koenders finds it special to wear the silver fern but on his trip to China this month it will be in a different role.
The EIT dean of commerce and technology is taking time off faculty duties to co-lead a Triathlon New Zealand team to the World Long Course Triathlon Champs in Weihai.
The triathletes will compete over the 4km swim, 120km bike and 20km run distance.
Having competed over the Olympic distance at the 2011 World Championship in Beijing, Koenders has first-hand experience of sport in the Chinese environment. He also works on Chinese university relationships for EIT.
Triathlon NZ took those factors into account in selecting him to jointly lead the team.