Mutisport: Kiwi triathletes on a high training for world champs

New Zealand's medal winning triathletes Hamish Carter, Bevan Docherty and Samantha Warriner begin their world championships campaign in Canada this weekend.

The trio lead an eight-strong New Zealand group competing in the sixth round of the BG Triathlon World Cup at Edmonton on Monday.

It is the first serious hit-out this season for Olympic gold medallist Carter and Commonwealth Games silver medallists Docherty and Warriner.

All three have been training at altitude in the United States endurance training mecca of Boulder, Colorado before heading to Europe next month where the main goal is the world championships in Lausanne, Switzerland in September.

It is Carter's first significant event, although both he and Docherty raced in last month's Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco.

Carter said he was pleased with his fitness level. "The training has been going well. It's been a few years since I've trained at altitude but things have been excellent.

"I am now really keen to get racing again. I am not expecting too much this weekend. It's a first race and I need to shake the cobwebs out."

It is much the same for both Docherty and Warriner, who like Carter have already been named in the team for the world championships.

The pressure is on the likes of Shane Reed and Terenzo Bozzone as they search for good results and much-needed ITU (International Triathlon Union) points to qualify for Lausanne.

There is interest in the first World Cup showing of the year for the 21-year-old Bozzone, the former two-time world junior triathlon champion, who burst on to the elite scene with a fourth placing in Hawaii, 11th at Cornerbrook and 13th in this race last year.

Reed is ranked 30th in the world. After six top-15 World Cup finishes last year, the Taranaki-based athlete opened this year with a seventh placing in the BG Triathlon World Cup in Mexico. The other New Zealanders in the field include Hamilton's Graham O'Grady, Wellington's Martin van Barneveld and US-based Will Smith.

- NZPA