Multisports: Brown and Lawn go for ironman records

The spotlight will be on New Zealand triathletes Cameron Brown and Jo Lawn when a record 1480 competitors from 41 countries line up on Taupo's lakefront for the New Zealand Ironman on Saturday.

Auckland's Lawn has won for the past three years in Taupo and one more win means she will equal the record set by Erin Baker.

Brown has been even more impressive at Taupo. He has won the event for the past five years and victory on Saturday would make the top seed and world No 2 the first person in ironman history to clock up six consecutive titles in one race.

Nevertheless, both are well aware they are up against internationals who have shown good form on the world circuit.

New to Taupo, Ukrainian Victor Zyemtsev, a world long course champion and three-time Ironman Austria winner has an ironman marathon personal best four minutes faster than Brown, who says he's likely to be matched in all three disciplines.

"He will probably be the main threat ... he's pretty good," Brown told NZPA.

Zyemtsev had been in New Zealand for the past seven weeks and would have adjusted, Brown said, but his own home advantage would also come into play.

Noted swim/bike specialists including Sweden's Bjorn Andersson and up-and-coming New Zealander Kieran Doe are likely to push Brown, while Estonian Ain Alar Juhanson , France's Gael Mainard and American veteran Ken Glahare are also rated.

One athlete likely to put the heat on Lawn is Australian Kate Major, who beat her in the past two Hawaii events, but the 32-year-old is focused on extending her winning run.

"I have won three but used to dream of winning one. It is really special to do an Ironman, let alone win one so every day you appreciate more that it is not forever," Lawn said.

"But most importantly I just want to be first to the line -- that's why we are out there."

Scotland's Bella Comerford has a handful of ironman wins to her name and will also look to make an impression in Taupo, having not completed the race last year.

Karyn Ballance -- a former winner of the race -- and Fiona Docherty are other strong local prospects.

After his second placing in the renowned Kona-Kailua in Hawaii last year Brown, 33, has made no secret of his ambition to win it this time around in October but said he had been training up to 40 hours a week for this weekend's event.

"I always make sure I'm ready for Taupo," he said.

Brown took part in the teams event in the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman having had a longer rest than usual after Hawaii and said winning it this year was a big goal.

"It comes around pretty quickly. One of the benefits I get is having already qualified for it by coming second last year, so you can just get on with the game and prepare for New Zealand and Germany."

The European Ironman in Germany is in July and in between will involve a few half ironmans to keep in shape.

Brown said he had wound down the training in the immediate lead up to Saturday's race and was hoping for calm weather and a calm lake.

"If you have a howling southerly it makes for a very hard day."

Ironman New Zealand combines a 3.8km swim with a 180km cycle and 42km run. The 22-year-old event is one of 19 official qualifying events for the Ironman World Championships and has a purse of about $85,000.

- NZPA