New Zealand's Olympic Committee confirmed the final selections for the men’s and women’s Triathlon team for the Beijing Olympic Games which will be held in August.

Andrea Hewitt and Shane Reed will now join Sam Warriner, Debbie Tanner, Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell in representing New Zealand in Beijing at the Olympic distance triathlon event.

Andrea Hewitt won the race of the Kiwis last weekend at the Mooloolaba ITU BG World Cup race but did not do enough to immediately confirm her nomination for the Beijing Olympics with a 14th place. Hewitt did finish ahead of fellow Kiwi Nicky Samuels who finished in 20th place.

On the men’s side the duel for the third and final Olympic spot between Terenzo Bozzone and Shane Reed in Mooloolaba didn't pan out as Bozzone also finished in 14th place like Hewitt while Reed finished in 25th place. Like on the women side, the decision wasn't automatic because neither finished in the top five which guarantee selection. This is why both decisions were left in the hands of the Triathlon New Zealand selectors.

Reed who is 34 was quoted as saying he would retire if he didn't make the team after his disappointing finish in Mooloolaba.

I'm pretty much ready to retire if I don't make the team. I'll race New Plymouth next week and that's it for World Cups anyway. (March 31, 2008 - The New Zealand Herald - Triathlon: Reed has tense wait over selection)

For Hewitt the announcement comes as a awesome birthday gift as she turns 26 on April 4th.

Nicky Samuels and Terenzo Bozzone were both named as official reserves in the event of injury or illness to anyone unfit to compete in Beijing.

The first Ironman triathlon of four races in April took place today as Patrick Vernay Repeats and Chrissie Wellington Wins Down Under at Ironman Australia in Port Macquarie.

Patrick Vernay of New Caledonian used his strong running to successfully defend his Ironman Australia title in Port Macquarie with a win over 2nd place Mitchell Anderson. Vernay has been very successful in Australia as this is his third Ironman title in Australia over the last year, this past December he won the title at Ironman Western Australia in Busselton.

On the women's side Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington of Great Britain started with the lead on the run and successfully held off Kate Major for her first Ironman title of 2008. She finished in ninth place overall today in Port Macquarie. In the process Wellington smashed the course record by almost 10 minutes previously set by Rebekah Keat (9:13:00) in 2007.
 
2008 Ironman Australia Results:

Luke Bell who had a DNF last month at Ironman New Zealand today finished in 6th place today with a time of 8:56:17.

Tempe, AZ (April 7, 2008) – A star studded field of women triathletes will line up for the 2008 Ford Ironman Arizona title. Included in that group are two returning champions, the 2006 winner Michellie Jones and last year’s champion Heather Gollnick.

Jones, a native Australian, made the transition to the Ironman discipline after winning a silver medal at the Olympic distance triathlon in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She won her first Ironman at the Ford Ironman Florida event in 2004, following that with a strong second place finish at the 2005 Ford World Championship in Kona. In 2006 Jones won here in Tempe at Ford Ironman Arizona and became the first Australian woman to claim a World Title in the same year at the 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship.

Gollnick is the returning champion here at Ford Ironman Arizona. She added the win to an impressive resume of five Ironman titles including two at Ford Ironman Wisconsin in 2002 and 2003 and a win at the inaugural Ford Ironman Louisville in 2007. Her most recent win came at the Ironman 70.3 Pucon in January 2008. Gollnick resides, with her husband and three children in Bradenton, FL.

Hillary Biscay finished third here in 2006, behind Jones and Gollnick. The Californian native had a break through season in 2006, finishing in the top five at all six of her Ironman races, her best finish was at the 2006 Ford Ironman Wisconsin where she claimed second place. Currently residing in Tucson, AZ Biscay has continued to post podium performances at Ironman events with two second place finishes at Ironman UK and also at Ford Ironman Wisconsin in 2007.

Others in the field to watch include, Erica Csomor of Hungary, Tereza Macel representing the Czech Republic and Canadian Sara Gross. Csomor is a two-time winner of the World Short Course Duathlon Championships and the 2004 Ironman Austria Champion. She posted a third place finish at the 2007 Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid. Csomor ran down a strong field to win the recently held Ford Ironman 70.3 California.

The inaugural running of Ironman China and the Ironman 70.3 China triathlons is scheduled to take place in less than two weeks; on April 20, 2008 to be exact. This will be fourth Ironman race scheduled to take place in the month of April in 2008. The races are set to take place on island of Hainan a vacation gem set in the South China Sea, basically China's version of Hawaii. The island features pristine blue waters teeming with reef fish and unspoiled white-sand beaches set against a lush tropical background, . It is a rapidly developing international destination with world-class facilities, including five-star resort hotels. Haikou, the capital of Hainan Province, offers all the facilities important to a triathlon, such as roads, communications, high-speed Internet service, and governmental cooperation. All factors considered, Haikou is a world-class venue with all the amenities necessary to make your stay enjoyable.

There are many first's tied to these two events. After many attempts, this will be the first time China get's its own Ironman race off the ground and it will be the first time an Ironman 70.3 race has been staged in the country as well. Also unique is that both race will take place on the same day and will be the first time that a full-distance Ironman and Ironman 70.3 race will be staged at the same venue on the same day. Roughly 700 people have decided to register for these races without much knowledge of the area and the course. Of the 700 triathletes roughly 185 of them will be from the host country while nearly 100 of them will be from the United States the rest of the participants are comprised of a broad mix of participants from around the world.

Many triathletes do some sort of research before choosing to participate in a race, especially for these types of distances. In this case we don't know much about the area, the course, the organization and what it takes to get there but we will sure find out once the race is over with race coverage, pictures and blog posts all over the internet. For those participating and wondering what the area might look like here is a course preview video for the Ironman China and Ironman 70.3 China triathlon races.

It was a great day in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for the teamTBB couple of Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford as they pulled off a unique double ironman victory at Ironman South Africa. It wasn't easy as both of them came from behind on the run to take the victory.

It was triple sweet for Bayliss as this was his first Ironman title and in the process sets a New Course Record with a winning time of 8:18:23. He managed to fend of home time favorite Raynard Tissink who finished in second place for the 3rd consecutive year. Bayliss has had many top five finishes and last year came close to winning his first Ironmna title at Ironman UK when he finished in second place but today he gets to share the spotlight with his fiancé with the fairy tale ending in South Africa.

Francois Chabaud who lead the men into T2 and held the lead half way into the run faded and held on for a fourth place finish today.

On the women's side Comerford had an amazing task of coming from a 17 minute deficit at T2 to Lucie Zelenkova to take the victory by five seconds over Edith Niederfriniger.
 
2008 Ironman South Africa Results:

Erika Csomor dobles the distance and gets the win at the 2008 Ironman Arizona triathlon in Tempe. Just two weeks ago she raced in California and was victorious at the Ironman 70.3 California race in Oceanside (link). With her win she becomes the 3rd member of teamTBB to win an Ironman title today, earlier today Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford won Ironman South Africa (link). teamTBB is coached by Brett Sutton.

Csomor had a deficit of 7:41 early into the bike but made up the deficit. She used her strong bike skills to take the lead on the bike three quarters of the way into race but lost the lead to Michellie Jones in T2. That didn't last long as she regained the lead on the run over Jones three and a half miles into the race and steadily continued to pull away from that point on. With her strong run she was able to put a 9:41 gap between herself and Jones to cruise to the finish line. Jones finished in second place ahead of defending champion Heather Gollnick.

Jozsef Major who also is from Hungary and grew up in the same town a Csomor takes the victory on the men's side over TJ Tollakson who finished in second place by only 17 seconds. The men’s race was nail biter, if you blinked within the last 3 miles of the run you might of missed the lead changes leading to the finish line. Less than 2 minutes separated 1st and 4th place at mile 23. A mile later the gap was down to 1 minute with Tollakson taking the lead over James Bonney. With a half mile to go, Major who was in 4th place at mile 24 was running neck and neck with Tollakson. Major dug deep and pushed ahead of Tollakson at the end to take the victory. Only one minute and fourteen seconds separated 1st and 4th place today on the men’s side.
 
2008 Ironman Arizona Results:

Defending champion Rutger Beke had a DNF today and its unknown why at this time. He was in fourth place going in to T2 but never went out on the run.

Matt Reed and Julie Swail Ertel out ran their field to secured spots on the U.S. Olympic Men's and Women's triathlon teams with their wins at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This was the second selection event of three trials. The Olympic distance triathlon featured a 1.5km swim in the Black Warrior River, a 40km 8 loop bike course along the Tuscaloosa waterfront and a 10km run also along the waterfront.

Reed beat out favorites Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper to take the second U.S. men’s Olympic Triathlon team spot. On the women’s side Ertel managed to stay ahead of Sarah Haskins and Sarah Groff for the win and earn the second spot on the women's team.

Matt and Julie will join previously selected U.S. Olympic Team members Laura Bennett and Jarrod Shoemaker. The Beijing Olympic Games are only four months away. The event schedule has the Men's and Women's Triathlon event taking place in the second week of the games on August 18th and 19th.
 
2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials:

The first selection event was held at the ITU Beijing World Cup last September where Laura Bennett and Jarrod Shoemaker qualified. The next and final selection event will be held in Des Moines, Iowa at the Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 22nd. With two out of three slots determined for both the men and the women, all eyes are on Des Moines, Iowa where the final team members will be selected based on the best two finishes in the three-race selection process.

Germany's Olaf Sabatschus is the first participant to cross the finish line at the very hot and humid inaugural Ironman China triathlon thus becoming the first male champion of Ironman China. He crossed the finish line in a time of 8:52:14, eleven minutes ahead of second place finisher Byung Hoon Park. On the women's teamTBB gets another win as Belinda Granger wins her 2nd Ironman title of 2008 with the women's Ironman China title.

For Sabatschus the win must feel amazing. In late 2006 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He received immediate and successful treatment and spent early 2007 recovering. The win today has to be a total confidence boost for him after his minor setback; he will be a force to reckon with. He's a familiar face at Ironman Brazil and is currently on the starting list for the race which is scheduled to take place at the end of May. He has won Brazil twice, back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2005.

Training in Asia with teamTBB seems to be a plus for Granger who seems to like it when it's hot. Today she won Ironman China under sweltering conditions. Back in February she did a similar feat in Langkawi when she won Ironman Malaysia in hot and humid conditions. This is her second Ironman title in 2008. Last weekend three of her teamTBB team members won Ironman titles in South Africa and Arizona.
 
2008 Ironman China Results:

It's been a busy month for the WTC as Ironman China becomes the 4th and final Ironman race scheduled to take place in the month April. On top of that, today in a unique situation in Haikou they had the inaugural running of Ironman 70.3 China. The race was run on the same course but the triathlon started 2 hours later. They had 471 participants for the Ironman race today and 261 competitors and 57 relay teams for the 70.3 race.

A public preview of the upcoming facelift for the Ironman.com is available here: ironman.com/news?beta=2008 It looks nice. At first glance it has the same look and features as the newly upgraded Inside Triathlon website.

The home page has highlights from all of their sections with quick access links to the individual stories. Their old style was more like individual blog posting which sometimes made it difficult to find what you were looking for because the front page was cluttered with preview text from the individual post. The new landing pages of the individual sections are nice, again with quick access to the sub-topics and stories. The events section is great, you get to see all of the events, dates and registration status in one place, a very NICE FEATURE! Before you had to click on the tricky menu to get to the event to see the event info and then repeat it for all of the events. Check it out and see it for yourself.

MINNEAPOLIS - (Business Wire) Jarrod Shoemaker is being honored by Wheaties, “The Breakfast of Champions,” with a new, limited-edition package featuring the 25-year old triathlete from Sudbury, Mass. The Breakfast of Champions® continues its tradition of honoring elite athletes and celebrates Shoemaker’s outstanding triathlon achievements, adding yet another honor to his impressive list of accomplishments.

Shoemaker is a fierce competitor and credits his amazing success in triathlon to a combination of raw talent and personal drive. He turned professional after competing in just four triathlons in 2003. Within two years Jarrod had won the Under 23 Nationals and World Championship. He qualified for the USA Triathlon’s National Elite Team in 2006 and has racked up nine top 10 finishes in the past two years. In the fall of 2007 Shoemaker completed an even more amazing feat by becoming the first member of the USA Triathlon Men’s Team competing in the games in Beijing this summer. Now his sights are set on the Hy-Vee ITU World Cup in Des Moines, Iowa this June – the largest prize purse in professional triathlon competition.

Shoemaker was a runner while attending Dartmouth College and credits his time on the track team for teaching him what it takes to be a top athlete. During his last two seasons of college, Jarrod added riding and swimming to his work-out regimen and when he graduated in 2004, he left his running career and began to focus on the triathlon. Excellence in all three triathlon events – swimming, cycling, and running – has made Shoemaker one of the most well-rounded athletes in the sport.

UPDATES
Shark Kills Triathlete at California Beach [via Inside Triathlon]

CNN's Larry King interviews a spokesman for the victim's family about the fatal shark attack off the California coast. [via CNN Video]

Tragedy has been reported out West in the triathlon community. A triathlete doing some training in the ocean has been attacked and killed off the coast of San Diego, CA.

Breaking News

Attack happened near Solana Beach in San Diego County, authorities say

A shark attacked and killed a swimmer Friday morning who was training in the ocean off San Diego County with a group of local triathletes, authorities said.

A man between 55 and 60 years old was swimming with others at Tide Beach around 7 a.m. when he was attacked, according to a statement on the Solana Beach city Web site.

Shark kills triathlete training at Calif. beach [via MSNBC]

SOLANA BEACH SHARK ATTACK [via City of Solana Beach]

Tim Don of Great Britain and Samantha Warriner of New Zealand were victorious at Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup in Tongyeong, South Korea.

It was a good showing for Don in Tongyeong in his continued quest to qualify for Great Britain's Olympic Team as he claimed his fifth world cup win of his career. Beijing bound Bevan Docherty of New Zealand took 2nd place with a photo finish result over Germany’s Jan Frodeno.

Docherty's teammate Warriner claimed her sixth world cup title with the win today.
 
2008 Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup Results:

Pre-season triathlon base training includes running outside in the winter and if you live in an area with cold winters like I do you want to have the right type of clothing to stay warm. One of the essential components to staying warm while running outdoors is a good pair of winter running tights. Running in Minneapolis this winter was frigid, the temperatures were low and the brisk winds were always there. This review will focus on 3 pair of winter running tights from 3 different manufactures (Craft, Pearl Izumi, Under Amour ) I tried out this winter to stay warm.

The testing occurred in various degrees of cold, from a low of around 4 to a high of around 27. Each product was tested the same way but on separate occasions. The lengths of the runs varied between 6 to 9 miles. I always tested these products out with a pair of Craft Gore Wind Stop Gunde Boxer underwear.

Each product had similar characteristics like front panel wind barrier fabric, water-resistant protection, lower leg zippers for easy on-off access and a tight fit around your ankles. They all have breathable / moisture management rear panels, which works but the downside is if you have a brisk tailwind while running your behind and legs are going to get cold. The Craft and the Pearl Izumi products had a thin fleece lining while the Under Amour product did not.

Winter Running Tights Review

Craft Storm Tight (MSRP: $109.99)
- I liked the nice fit of these tights, they were comfortable, perfect length and warm
- The articulated knees give the tights the proper flexibility when you are running
- Reflective piping on the front and back for early morning and early evening runs
- The one thing this pair of tights was missing was a key / credit card pouch
- These Craft tights are a bit pricey but now I know why, they are well worth it when trying to stay warm while running outside in the winter.
 
 
Pearl Izumi AmFIB Tight (MSRP: $99.99)
- This pair of tights unlike the other two has a patch of the windproof and water-resistant material on the rear for additional warmth which is really nice when you have a brisk tail wind while running.
- These tights had a tighter fit; they were still comfortable and kept me nice and warm.
- These tights did have a key / credit card pouch on the inside.
- The cut on the front of the tights made them feel like low riders or like they were coming down while running, every so often I would pull them up because I thought they were falling down.
- The tighter fit seemed to cause the tights to come up a bit. These tights did not have any special fabrication around the knees like the other two pair of tights.

A new triathlon event has been announced in Eastern Iowa. The first annual Peregrine Charities Triathlon will originate from the popular George Wyth State Park, located just off Highway 218 between Waterloo and Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Triathlon: Peregrine Charities Triathlon
When: Sunday, September 28, 2008 @ 7:30 AM
Where: George Wyth State Park, Waterloo, IA, USA
Divisions: Elite, Age Group, Relays
Website: www.peregrinecharities.org/tri

The triathlon event will feature a 1 mile Swim in George Wyth Lake, a 22 mile Bike ride on scenic rural roads and a 6 mile Run on paved trails through scenic George Wyth State Park and Hartman Reserve Nature Center. The triathlon event is open to Individuals and Relay Teams. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three overall female and male elite finishers and to the first place finishers in each of the female and male age groups, Clydesdale, Athena and Relay Team divisions.

Proceeds from registrations to the first-annual Peregrine Charities Triathlon will directly benefit Peregrine Charities.