Top triathletes at Corsair Bay

Press, 14 December 1985, Page 80

Top triathletes at Corsair Bay

Arguably the best field of triathletes to assemble in Christchurch will start in the first race of the Double Brown short course series at Corsair Bay tomorrow. The men’s race has three strong challengers for the $5OO first prize. John Hellemans, Peter Zyerveldt and John Hughes have all performed well recently. Zyerveldt, the European middledistance champion, should have the edge. Hellemans finished second to the talented Aucklander, Richard Wells, in the Les Mills triathlon in Auckland three weeks ago and favours the shorter distances. Tomorrow’s race comprises a I.skm swim, a 40km cycle ride and 10km run. It starts at 8 a.m. Hughes won the West Australian championship in October and is keen to boost his standing against wellregarded opponents. Brett Marshall is relatively new to triathlons but

he has shown much promise and the young Dunedin man could surprise the more favoured competitors. Ray Lichtwark, who competed in the gruelling iron man event in Hawaii in October, is the leading entry in the veteran men’s section. His clash with Geoff Le Cren, of Christchurch, will be a feature of that section. Erin Baker, who has beaten the best women triathletes in the world and could justifiably claim the title of world champion, will have little more than a training run tomorrow. The greatest interest in her performance will be how close she can finish to the leading men. Her sister, Philippa Baker, could be her closest rival is if she starts. She finished third behind her sister and Allison Roe in the Les Mills race on November 24. Philippa Baker, a New Zealand junior rowing representative, will compete for her club, Canterbury, in a rowing regatta at Picton today. She will return to Christchurch this evening and, if her rowing commitments have been fulfilled, she will make a decision on a start in the triathlon tomorrow morning.