TRIATHLON

Simson to join fellow Kiwi and World MultiSport champion Currie at Oceania Cross Triathlon Championships

By In2Adventure


New Zealand's Jess Simpson follows Braden Currie's
lead and signs on to the Oceania Cross Triathlon Championships
following epic 'Coast to Coast' title defense. 
Credit: Paul's Camera Shop.

There will be no rest for reigning two-time Coast to Coast winner Jess Simson (NZL), as the South Island native will back up her second World Multisport championship win two weeks ago, as well as a second-place finish in the Lake Wanaka Half on Sunday, by competing in the Oceania Cross Triathlon Championships at Lake Crackenback, NSW, this weekend (28 Feb - 1 March).

Fellow Kiwi and World Multisport (aka Speight’s Coast to Coast – The Longest Day) champion Braden Currie, who won his third straight 243km Coast to Coast multisport race across the South Island and finished fifth at the iron-distance Challenge Wanaka four days ago, has also signed on to complete a staggering triple-header this month.

“This was my second time winning the Coast to Coast,” said Simson. “It’s always a challenging day out so great to come away with a win after a solid summer of training.”

For Simson, this will be her first foray into cross triathlon, after having competed in the elite multisport ranks for years, and having won the Wulong Mountain Quest last year and setting ‘The Goat’ mountain run (19km) record in 2013.

“I have never done a Cross Triathlon or Xterra before,” said the 30-year-old Wanaka resident. “I have not done any swim training except for a 2km swim on Sunday at the Lake Wanaka Half, and I have not been on my mountain bike since November so I am purely excited to try something new in a beautiful area of Australia.”

The Oceania Cross Triathlon Championships comes just one week after the Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa hosted the inaugural two-day, four-stage Snowy Mountain Bike Festival. The triathlon features a 1,500m swim, 30km cross-country mountain bike and 10km trail run.

With a $40,000 prize purse, the event has attracted a red-hot field. Aside from Simson and Currie, Australian Olympians Courtney Atkinson and Erin Densham will be heavy pre-race favourites, as well as multi-time Xterra champions Ben Allen (AUS) and Jacqui Slack (GBR). Recently crowned Australian Cross Triathlon champion Max Neumann will also be on the start.

“I’ve never been to the Snowies and I think it’s a pretty awesome place to be,” Currie told In2Adventure in January. “I’ve been hearing a lot about the mountain biking and I’m looking forward to that.  Obviously it’s got a great prize purse and I hope I can be up towards the top to claim it.”

The Oceania Cross Triathlon Championships is a Continental Championships awarded by the Oceania Triathlon Union (OTU), and is one of three events in Australia that are qualifying rounds for the World Cross Triathlon Championships in 2015 to be held in Sardinia, Italy on 26th September, 2015.

“I’m sure it is bound to be highly competitive with some very strong athletes out on course,” concluded Simson. “I’ve been to Lake Crackenback twice, for two weddings, and think it will be a neat area to race.”

The Oceania Cross Triathlon Championships is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, and consists of a 1,500m swim, 30km mountain bike and 10km trail run in the stunning vicinity of Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa.