The most popular Contact Tri Series in history will conclude with the most popular ever National Championships over the standard distance in Wellington this Saturday when over 800 (and still climbing) participants line up in various events on the city waterfront, including the biggest ever age group field in the history of the Contact Tri Series.
Numbers in the 7 event Contact Tri Series have been through the roof this summer, with an increase on last year of over 500 participants and Wellington this weekend is proving no exception.
The lure of a place in the New Zealand age group team at the 2012 ITU World Championships in Auckland this October is certainly part of the attraction, but so too is the continued popularity of the sport amongst every day New Zealanders looking to get fit, stay healthy or perhaps meet a challenge or two head on.
The Contact Tri Series in Wellington doubles as the national standard distance championships and the final chance to earn spots in the New Zealand team for the 2012 World Champs in all age group races.
Event Director Haidee Stratford says interest in the sport has never been higher.
"This summer has been phenomenal with sell out races become the norm rather than the exception. This weekend we are at capacity in a number of races, including the age group standard distance individual and team events, however we do have room for entries in the children's Contact 1:2:1, beginner Contact 3:9:3 and the new event on the programme, the Tri Tag Relay.
"Tri Tag Relay caters for everyone, from beginners to corporate to the serious triathletes. All you need is a team of four, two men and two women and a keenness to give the sport a go. Each participant will race a super sprint triathlon before tagging a team mate who does the same, it will be great fun and a great spectacle for those watching too, not to mention the $4,000 prize money to the winning team!"
Saturday's programme also includes the first official Para Tri National Championships, with athletes again looking to qualify for the upcoming World Championships.
Stratford says this has been a major undertaking and is an exciting development for the sport.
"Triathlon New Zealand has worked closely with various agencies here in New Zealand to ensure we include Para-Tri events in our programme. The ITU and of course the Olympic movement are big supporters and so are we, this is an exciting opportunity for our para-triathletes to shine and to get serious about the sport and will I hope be the first of many such opportunities."
The size of the fields is all the more remarkable given elite national titles are being held this year in Tasmania, in conjunction with the ITU Oceania Championships this weekend.
New Zealand has sent a strong team of U19, U23 and elites to the Devonport event in search of Oceania titles and in the case of the elite athletes, the chance to book a country spot at the London Olympics if New Zealand earns victory in either men's or women's races through their third ranked athlete (or lower) on the ITU rankings.
