Triathlon: Junior series underway in Taupo

Tri NZ high performance director Graeme Maw. Photo / Christine Cornege

New Zealand's national junior triathlon series kicks off this weekend in Taupo with close to 100 of the sport's brightest emerging talents competing.

The Future ChampionNZ Festival features triathletes aged between 15 and 19. The brainchild of Tri NZ with the support of regional coaches, clubs and event promoters, the national junior series is intended to promote high quality junior draft-legal racing at focused events during the summer.

The events endorse and support the work of the Regional Youth Academies in the High Performance pathway.

Tri NZ High Performance Director Graeme Maw says the series is another innovation in the area of athlete development in New Zealand.

"Our regional lead coaches got their heads together with the team at Tri NZ and came up with the idea of a series of draft-legal events and races specifically focused towards the younger age group," said Maw.

"The Tri NZ regional youth academies see shared learning and cooperation across coaches and athletes, leading to improvements in training methods and race execution. What we needed was more racing with that focus and bringing everyone together. These opportunities are about racing yes, but they are equally about the sharing of knowledge and the sense of a competitive community of young athletes on and off the race-course so to speak. We are indebted to Stephen Bradley for picking up these concepts and developing what will be an invigorating festival to kick the series off this weekend."

There is a clear competitive element to the national junior series, with athletes earning points in order that a champion region can be named at the end of the summer. Athletes do not earn points for themselves per say, rather it is for the region, encouraging racing as teams and a coordinated effort across the summer. Regions are requested to enter a minimum of four boys and four girls per event, with points earned based on results and participation.

Future ChampionNZ Festival Director Stephen Bradley says their goals are long term and aligned with Tri NZ.

"The Future ChampionNZ Festival's goal is to support the work of the regional youth academies and their coaches. Athletes will be encouraged to work with their regional lead coaches throughout the weekend.

"Opportunities will be provided for athletes and regional coaches to spend time working on skills and strategies to complement their racing experiences throughout the weekend.

"The over-riding goal of the Future ChampionNZ Festival is to add to the Tri NZ Talent Pathway and ultimately see more Kiwi athletes succeed on the world stage whilst providing a fun and exciting race weekend for all young athletes."

The national junior series is hosted throughout the summer in Taupo, Wanaka, Wellington, Takapuna and Gisborne, and followed closely by the national schools champs in April. The Wanaka, Wellington and Takapuna events coincide with the Sovereign Tri Series events and dates.

The Future ChampionNZ Festival begins on Friday with an Aquathlon, followed on Saturday by an open water swim and athletics events, with a triathlon to end the festival on Sunday.

The series will be influential in selecting the 2016 national talent squad in March next year, with athlete performances, behaviour and tracking monitored throughout the summer.