Katherine Anton left male competitors gasping when she was first overall in a field of 123 finishers at the Mangawhai Triathlon on February 8. A week later, Anton, from Whangarei, headed south to compete in a women's 220km two-day cycling tour, organised by the Morrinsville Wheelers. Racing in the A-Grade section againstsome of New Zealand's leading cyclists, she gave another glimpse of her potential by coming home second in a 93km stage of the closely-contested four-stage event. Anton's performances over consecutive weekends confirm a return to the form that won her gold in the New Zealand and Oceania Women's Duathlon Championships last year. Selected last year to represent New Zealand in the World Duathlon Championship in Rimini, Italy, in September, Anton looked set for a podium finish. But disaster struck as she worked out in the final stages of her training at New Zealand's triathlon base in Europe. With just over two weeks to go before the championship, Anton began to feel unwell. "At first I thought I just had a stomach complaint and each day I thought I'd be better the next day, then about 12 days out I knew it was serious," she said. She was rushed to hospital by ambulance and required an operation that left her feeling "incredibly weak", with her dreams of competing in the world champs shattered. Back in New Zealand and grateful to to be in good health, Anton started to work cautiously on regaining her fitness. "I felt I had a huge, huge hill to climb to get fit again. It probably took me about a month to start doing some gentle training. "And then I had to be quite experimental so I've been training gently, then pushing it a little bit and then having to ease back, listening to my body." In March or April, Anton will be looking for another triathlon to test herself, ready for TNZ's winter duathlon series in Christchurch in May, Auckland in June and Palmerston North in August. Success in Auckland will see Anton selected again for the World Championships, this year on September 26, in North Carolina. In the Palmerston North duathlon, she will defend her New Zealand title.
