Stephen Sheldrake in IM Austria

After 8 weeks of great training in San Diego, France and Italy, with fellow
Kiwi Cameron Brown Stephen Sheldrake was ready to give all at Austria
Ironman in preparation for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships in
October.  Based in Klagenfurt, the beautiful race course is set around a
large lake.  Race morning weather brought clear blue skies and promises of a
hot day with temperatures estimated over 30 degrees centigrade.  However, a
series of events lead to his DNF (did not finish).

On the 4K swim Stephen set a new course record of 45:33mins and was first
out ahead of a pack of athletes by over two minutes.  The 180K, 3-lap bike
course included a set of hills that were perfect Stephen, who is a strong
cyclist, and he held off Jurgen Zack (eventual race winner) for the first
75K.  Stephen cycled until 120K, and said he was feeling excellent and still
in second position, when his problems began.  The race is unusual in that
athletes can get outside assistance and it was chaos around the "special
needs" area.  This is where the bag which contains all food, drinks and
other race needs is handed over to athletes.  Despite screaming his race
number Stephen was not given his bag and Race Officials eventually got the
food to him at 155K after he had gone nearly 50K without any kind of
sustenance.  At this same point he got a flat tyre.  After changing to a
spare he continued on and finished the bike in 4:40 despite already feeling
exhausted due to lack of nutrition.  Stephen came off the bike-run
transition in 6th place 18 minutes behind Jurgen Zack.

Within 2K of the 42K run Stephen started feeling dizzy, breathless and
un-coordinated so sat down only to more or less pass out.  Paramedics helped
and got a helicopter to take him to hospital where he was on a drip, oxygen
and wired to and ECG for an hour.  Once given the all clear he returned back
to his hotel and has said he feels much better although bitterly
disappointed to not have raced well as he has trained hard and this was the
perfect race course for his ability, he was hoping for a top 5 finish.  He
is not sure what his plans are now before Hawaii as much depended on the
outcome of this race.

other race information can be obtained on www.ironmanlive.com
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Just received this note from Ian Hepenstal the New Zealand team manger to
the triathlon world champs on in Edmonton this weekend

Hi Gary

Guess you have this. Will send full preview tomorrow with team lists etc.
But some little stuff:

The team have settled in well for this weekend's world championships in
Edmonton. Unfortunately we have tracked the NZ winter with us with rain in
Los Angeles, Vancouver and everyday here in Edmonton (which hasn't seen rain
for a month). Still the Wellingtonians  are feeling right at home. Or is
that the Aucklanders?

We have a great spot for our accommodation - five minutes from the city
greenbelt which has running and bike trails which means we have been able to
keep off the roads. There have been police-escorted tours on the bike course
although understand the policeman had to go full throttle to stay ahead of
Shorty Clark.

We were lucky enough to secure swim times at the Kinsman Centre, 15 minutes
walk. It is an incredible centre with an 8 lane 50, plus 50m with bulkheads,
two gymnasiums, 6 basketball courts, two 400m indoor running tracks. Jack
Ralston says they work extremely well - although I do not intend to test his
views by trying them myself.

Half of the elite team arrived from their base in Calgary today ready for
tomorrow's world Aquathon champs (2k run 750m swim 2k run) on the course.
There is an age group wave to try out the swim course which is in a large
pond in the middle of the green belt.

The bike course is tough - 3 laps with 2 good climbs and the run is 3 laps
around the park.

Matt Reed flew in from 20 hrs flight from Europe tonight and will defend his
Aquathon title won in Cancun last year.

We had a highly enjoyable team dinner tonight, joined by the elites and the
visiting dignitaries - Terry and Kathy Sheldrake, Arthur and Lynne Klap and
Tom Pryde.

The rest of the elite team arrive tomorrow along with the last member of the
team - the honourable Garth Barfoot. Only one concern is that while Joe
McCallum flew direct on his own from Auckland to Edmonton, his bike
apparently decided to travel elsewhere for the summer holidays. We hope to
solve this tomorrow - as I don't fancy having to run around the course with
Joe on my shoulders.

Racing for age groupers starts at 7.30am on Saturday (1.30am Sunday NZ time)
finishing with junior elite women who start at 4.30pm (10.30am NZ time).
Below is information on how you can watch live.

The elites race on Sunday with women at 11am (5am Monday NZ time) and men at
2pm (8am NZ time).

For those wishing to send greetings pse send to:

Edmonton Suites Hotel
Fax 001 780 420 4008.

Regards

Ian Hepenstall
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KIWI TRIATHLETE DEFENDS WORLD TITLE TONIGHT

New Zealand’s Matt Reed will defend his world aquathon title in Edmonton,
Canada tonight (Canada time) as a shakedown for this weekend’s world
triathlon championships.

Reed will complete alongside Auckland’s Nathan Richmond and Rina Hill in the
2k run 750m swim 2k run event that has drawn a number of top-ranked
triathletes ahead of the world championships.

Reed, who flew in from a successful European campaign yesterday, won the
title in Cancun, Mexico last year, following his older brother Shane, who
won the title twice.

The lanky Kiwi, ranked 10th in the world, had an excellent final race,
finishing second to four-time world champion Simon Lessing in Austria.

The rest of the New Zealand elite team have been training in Calgary,
completing their preparations with some strong performances in a sprint
triathlon two days ago.

Hill took out the women’s race, after a week of ill-health, while world No 6
Craig Watson won the men’s race.

Hill, the Australian racing under Kiwi colours, is also a former world
aquathon winner and will use the race as a test after falling ill two weeks
ago.

The New Zealand age-group and elite juniors compete on Saturday (Canadian
time) with the elite men and woman racing on Sunday.
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ANNOUNCEMENT:    The ITU are proud to announce the WEBCAST OF THE 2001 ITU
TRIATHLON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Edmonton, Canada On July 21 - 22, 2001, the
ITU will keep the entire world informed - FREE! -
with live video, audio, news and results coverage of all events throughout
the weekend.

To view the webcast, simply click one of the following links:

http://www.triathlon.org/tv/index.htm  (the official site of the ITU)
http://www.triedmonton2001.com         (the official event site)
http://www.video-link.tv               (the host webcaster)

Please forward this message  to Triathletes, Federations, Friends,
Fans,Family, Websites - anyone at all.    This webcast is a first for the
ITU,  but we intend it to become a regular feature for the World Cup and
beyond - Your feedback throughout the event would be greatly appreciated,
helping us greatly with this unique opportunity to bring triathlon to the
world on a regular basis.   Mail us your comments, opinions and suggestions
to: webcasts@ireland.com

Enjoy, and stay logged on to www.triathlon.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------

2001 ITU Triathlon World Championships
Lessing Withdraws, Carney & Smith Confirm

Former world champion Simon Lessing has withdrawn, while fellow titleholders
Emma Carney and Spencer Smith have been confirmed for the ITU Triathlon
World Championships in Edmonton next week, July 22.

Five time World Champion, Lessing was confirmed today as unavailable for
Edmonton, citing a late start to the season and an ongoing achilles tendon
problem as reason he cannot attempt to win a sixth world title. Following
the Olympic Games Lessing took a break from training and the injury caused
problems with his later than usual race preparation.

"Simon isn't ready to race at World Championship level," explained
Performance Director, British Triathlon, Graeme Maw. "He was behind schedule
throughout April and May, putting him a month behind his plan to win the
title."

Meanwhile, the British team has been buoyed by the allocation of Smith as
one of 12 international wild card entries from the International Triathlon
Union for the event. As the winner of the world title in Manchester in 1993,
Smith has expressed a strong commitment to a greater plan to race at the
1992 Commonwealth Games and the Athens Olympics.

"I haven't raced ITU events since '94 for the World Titles," said Smith
before his departure from Bath for Edmonton. "I'm excited to be back on the
circuit. I can't wait to race and the goal of the Commonwealth Games in
Manchester and the 2004 Olympics are pretty has got me feeling committed."

Under a selection cloud Carney was uncertain of her position on the
Australian team, after she was forced to withdraw with a calf injury from
the ITU Pizza Hut World Cup Triathlon in Toronto on 7 July. The race doubled
as the final selection race for the Australian team and the Australian
selectors were able to place the two-time world champion within selection
rules.

"Emma Carney was selected based on the Selection Policy having a fall back
position," stated Tim Wilson, Australia's National Executive Director. "That
is if six are not selected after Toronto World Cup, then the next highest
international ranked athlete [is chosen]. "

The 1994 Wellington and 1997 Perth World Champion, Carney, who last year won
the Edmonton ITU race, is now training with the Australian team in Alberta.
She has prepared for the ITU World Cup and World Championship season in her
hometown of Melbourne and counts a national Duathlon title amongst her
successes this year.

Joining a formidable women's team including defending World Champion, Nicole
Hackett and former World Champions Michellie Jones and Loretta Harrop, this
race will be Carney's eighth consecutive World Title race for Australia.