Taupo student masters Blue Lake rivals

Alison King | 2nd February 2010

Taupo triathlete Cameron Todd had his eyes on the King of the Lake crown from the very first Blue Lake Multisport Festival event on Saturday morning.

By the afternoon he had opened up a two-minute lead and rested up ready for yesterday's triathlon knowing the crown was within his grasp.

The 17-year-old easily took the title from defending King of the Lake, Tauranga triathlete Owen Miller, after finishing the sprint triathlon in 1 hour and 45 seconds.

The festival involved three events spread across two days, starting with an aquathon on Saturday morning.

The 5.5km run and 800m swim was won by Rotorua triathlete Sam Osborne in 25 minutes 56 seconds, with Todd second in 26m 31s.

On Saturday afternoon the flat 2km open water swim across Tikitapu proved to be no contest, with Todd finishing in 23m 38s, almost two minutes ahead of Miller in 25m 22s.

Jono Griffiths was first non-wetsuit swimmer out of the water in 25m 34s, winning the Tutanekai trophy.

Samantha Schubert edged out former Hinemoa swim champion Deirdre Lack in a sprint finish to cross the line in 30m 20s, one second ahead of Lack.

By yesterday morning Todd knew he had to finish the 750m swim, 16km bike and 5.5km run triathlon ahead of Miller but could afford to trail slightly behind if his body seized up.

He finished the triathlon second to Nathan Coombes in 1h and 45s, with Miller lagging behind in fifth in 1h 3m 8s, giving Todd the crown.

"After the first event I thought I could have a go at taking it out," Todd said.

"I was feeling pretty fit. I gained a pretty big lead after the swim - two minutes - and that helped a lot, as I had a good swim and bike in the tri but on the run my legs started to feel the [effects of] other races.

"It's the first time I've done so many events back to back.

"It's a pretty cool title to win and I'll definitely come back next year." Todd, a Year 13 student at Taupo-nui-a-Tia College, has high hopes for the rest of the year, with Contact Tri Series races at Kinloch on Sunday, Takapuna the week after and the national championships in Wellington in March, where he's gunning for a spot on the world championship team.

He'll be vying with Osborne, who opted not to race the triathlon yesterday morning, for one of the two world championship places available.

Meanwhile, Aucklander Tanya Dromgool won the Queen of the Lake title, taking out the festival trifecta.

Her aquathon time of 31m 9m, 26m 24s swim, and 1h 12m 24s triathlon kept her well ahead of contenders Lydia Hale, Steph Pearson and Marina Fowell.