Samuels and Sheldrake win in Timaru

Nicky Samuels has continued her great early season form and again suggested she is a definite contender for the third and final place on the New Zealand team for the Bejing Olympics with a victory at the Contact Energy My Sport Series in Timaru today, in doing so defeating training partner and Beijing rival Andrea Hewitt.

Conditions were superb and the location received a big ‘thumbs up’ from all athletes with a calm swim, a testing bike and run all under cloudless skies and in warm temperatures.

While both athletes are playing down the significance of the result in what was a non draft legal early season race (Mooloolaba qualifying race and the Olympics are draft legal), Samuels once again enjoyed her day at work.

“The swim was beautiful in calm clear conditions and I managed to stay in touch with Andrea – this was my goal. My transition was great and I came out onto the bike leg in front and stayed there, eventually enjoying a two minute lead into the run.”

“Mooloolaba and Olympic qualifying will be so much different to this though. The swim can pan out differently and with a draft legal bike a few metres can mean a different group on the bike leg.”

Samuels is in a good place at the moment and appears to be reveling in the hard training and racing regime.

“I am happy with my training in Wanaka and loving the sport and enjoying myself. I have to keep up the work into Mooloolaba and continue to improve. Today though I was most pleased with my run, haven’t put a good run together for a little while. My swimming has been good and I am cycling well but will keep working on the run, today was great though.”

Samuels will race again in Napier but in the meantime will head to the Tri NZ altitude training camp at Snowfarm (Wanaka). The Whangarei athlete is enjoying the Contact Energy My Sport series, using race days as hard training days to complement the rest of her programme.

Hewitt meanwhile never really got going after a good swim.

“The swim was good, I felt comfortable. The bike though was just okay and riding by yourself is a different thing altogether than draft legal racing. I had to stop a couple of times on the run towards the end, I’m not sure why to be honest but I feel fine now.”

Hewitt will remain at her home in Christchurch to continue her training while racing a couple of times at the Canterbury Championships and the Wellington round of the Contact Energy My Sport Series (doubling as the national championships), all with an eye on Mooloolaba in late March.

Sheldrake wins again but might pay a price

Stephen Sheldrake has continued his dominance of the Contact Energy My Sport Series with a commanding victory in the latest round at Timaru today, leading home Invercargill’s Bobby Douglas by over three minutes with Dylan McNeice (Christchurch) third.

The 34 year old says the body is showing signs of wear and tear but for now he is managing to cope with a busy schedule.

I struggled today to be honest and took a long time to get going in the swim. By the time I did find some rhythm Dylan (McNeice) had a minute lead. So I rode hard and managed to catch him at seven kilometres and then jammed rest of the ride to get as much of a lead as I could before the run. From there it was a matter of controlling the run to the finish and looking after my knee.”

Sheldrake has struggled with the knee for a few weeks now and is likely to need keyhole surgery to tidy up a possible meniscus tear. The Gisborne athlete will wait to see how the knee reacts over the next few days before making any decisions about the National Short Course Championships at Kinloch next weekend, a race that doubles as round five of the Contact Energy My Sport Series.

Timaru turned it on with a scorching day with temperatures in the high 20’s before midday. Bobby Douglas felt the effects of the heat but was otherwise pleased with a podium finish.

“I had a good race once I got over a stumble at the start of the swim when I dived a little earlier than I intended and lost my goggles. I sorted that out and emerged from the swim third. The bike course was really hard but I caught Dylan before we went to and fro on the run, finally emerging in second place across the line.”

For Douglas he is still finding out his limits in the sport in just his second season at the top level.

“I am still finding out how good I can be in this sport. I’m aiming at nationals in March, going to the Tri NZ training camp at Snowfarm (Wanaka) that will tell me whether I am good enough to be at that level. I will also look at moving my base to be closer to other elite athletes so I can train alongside them to further improve.”

A total of 200 athletes turned out in racing at Timaru. The Contact Energy My Sport Series now moves to Kinloch (Taupo) next weekend, a race that will double as the national sprint distance championships and world championship qualifying race for the distance.

Contact Energy Cup Race, Timaru 1500m Swim / 40km Cycle / 10km Run

Men’s

Swim Bike Run Total

Stephen Sheldrake Gis 22.16 59.29 35.23 1.57.08

Bobby Douglas Inv 22.18 1.04.02 34.25 2.00.45

Dylan McNeice Chch 21.36 1.04.51 35.02 2.01.19



Women’s

Nicky Samuels Whg 23.25 1.04.02 36.55 2.04.22

Andrea Hewitt Chch 23.31 1.06.23 38.09 2.08.03

Janine Sax BOP 27.18 1.09.01 39.09 2.15.28