WORLD NO 1 LEADS STRONG KIWI TRIATHLON TEAM
from Ian Hepenstal

World No 1 Hamish Carter leads one of the strongest New Zealand elite teams
for this month’s world triathlon championships in Edmonton.

Carter, who has three podium finishes at world championships to his credit,
leads a nine-strong team for Edmonton on Sunday July 22 (local time).

The team was confirmed after the latest ITU rankings were released today
following the fifth round of the World Cup in Toronto at the weekend, with
competitors in the top-50 world rankings gaining automatic entry along with
regional championship qualifiers. Competitors from rankings 51 to 75
required wildcard entries.

New Zealand have four men in the world’s top-20 and one woman. They are led
by Carter, who cemented his world No 1 ranking with a fourth placing in
Toronto following his rushed trip from Auckland after his wife Marissa gave
birth to their first child last week.

He is joined by Craig Watson (ranked 6th), Matt Reed (13th), Kris Gemmell
(18th), Bevan Docherty (31st) and Nathan Richmond (73rd). Australian-based
Shane Reed, ranked 19th, was unavailable.

The women’s team includes Australian-born Rina Hill (7th), Evelyn Williamson
(36th) and Heather Evans who qualified at the Oceania championships.

The team also includes elite juniors Terenzo Bozzone (Auckland), Kieran Doe
(Auckland), Graham O’Grady (Hamilton), Kirsty Whiting (Auckland) and Debbie
Tanner (Auckland).

``This rates as one of our strongest teams for sure,’’ acting High
Performance manager Mark Elliott said.

``When you consider that we have lost Ben Bright (retired), Jamie Hunt
(retired) and Paul Amey (transferred to Great Britain) and yet we have four
in the top 20, then we are doing well.

``Our men, especially, have been in strong form this year on the world cup
and in Europe.

``The pleasing thing is our athletes have been running well on flat courses
that have traditionally not suited us.’’

The team went into camp on Monday in Calgary, Canada and will move to
Edmonton next Wednesday to join the 52-strong New Zealand age-group team who
fly out for Canada this weekend.