KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's top two women triathletes will contest next month's Port of Tauranga half ironman.
World Series ITU champion Samantha Warriner steps up from Olympic racing to the half ironman to take on six-time Ironman New Zealand champion Joanna Lawn.
It marks an interesting move for Warriner, who plans to mix the Olympic distance racing with more half ironman events, including a push to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship in 2009.
Lawn will use the race as a litmus test as she prepares to defend her title at Ironman New Zealand in March, where she is chasing her seventh straight victory.
Last year's champion, Kate Bevilaqua (Australia), withdrew from the Port of Tauranga event, as she has not sufficiently recovered from a broken shoulder-blade.
Warriner, 37, has enjoyed World Cup wins in South Korea and Mexico, a third place at the world championships in Vancouver and two more World Cup podium finishes this season. She is not new to the longer form of triathlon, having won the Port of Tauranga half ironman in 2005.
"I'm keen to mix both distances in 2009," Warriner said. "The new six-race World Cup series is exciting but I'm also aiming at three half ironman races - this one plus two of the 70.3 series."
Warriner will get a real workout from Aucklander Lawn, who has been one of the world's best endurance triathletes.
- NZPA
