Athletes Gear Up For Inaugural XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championships

Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia will host several top professional XTERRA triathletes this Saturday at the inaugural XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship.

Women’s Preview
Olympians Nicky Samuels and Flora Duffy highlight a stellar women’s start list for this weekend’s race.

They’ll compete against XTERRA Guam champion Renata Bucher (SUI), XTERRA Great Ocean Road champ Jacqui Slack (GBR) and XTERRA Saipan champion Carina Wasle (AUT). Combined, those five have won seven of the nine XTERRA World Tour Championship races this season.

Others of note include Lizzie Orchard (NZL), who won the 25-29 division XTERRA World Title in 2011, and four-time XTERRA Japan champion Mieko Carey.

Adding to the intrigue are several high-profile local racers including defending Ironman Australia champion Rebecca Hoschke, ITU standout Penny Hosken and rookie elite Dimity-Lee Duke. Showing them the way will be Aussie legend Jody Mielke, who won the first-ever XTERRA Championship race in Asia at the 2000 Japan Championship.

Men’s Preview
Headlining the men’s race is Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz–a seven-time world champion who has won an unprecedented four XTERRA World Championship titles and three-straight ITU Cross Tri World titles, and just won the XTERRA New Zealand Championship race in Rotorua on April 12.

Stoltz’ home country will be well represented as fellow South African star Dan Hugo and young-gun Bradley Weiss are on the start list as well. Weiss is also hot, fresh-off a career-best runner-up performance at the XTERRA West Championship where he finished second to American star Josiah Middaugh.

The Aussies will be in full force as well with North Wollongong’s own Ben Allen, who won an unprecedented seven XTERRA World Tour races last year and this year won the XTERRA Great Ocean Road off-road tri in Anglesea and the XTERRA Saipan Championship in the Northern Marianas on back-to-back weekends before finishing second to Stoltz at XTERRA New Zealand on Saturday.

Other high-profile Australian racers include Olympians Courtney Atkinson and Brendan Sexton, Dr. Mitch Anderson, Alex Reithmeier and Todd Israel.

Other contenders include Craig Evans (USA), Braden Currie (NZL), Olly Shaw (NZL), Brice Daubord (FRA), Roger Serrano (ESP) and Joe Miller (PHI).

Learn more at Xterraasiapacific.com.

Elite Men
Conrad Stoltz (RSA)
Dan Hugo (RSA)
Bradley Weiss (RSA)
Ben Allen (AUS)
Braden Currie (NZL)
Craig Evans (USA)
Courtney Atkinson (AUS)
Alex Reithmeier (AUS)
Olly Shaw (NZL)
Joshua Kenyon (NZL)
Roger Serrano (ESP)
Joe Miller (PHI)
Brice Daubord (FRA)
Todd Israel (AUS)
Mitchell Anderson (AUS)
Brendan Sexton (AUS)

Elite Women
Nicky Samuels (NZL)
Flora Duffy (BER)
Renata Bucher (SUI)
Carina Wasle (AUT)
Lizzie Orchard (NZL)
Jacqui Slack (GBR)
Mieko Carey (JPN)
Jody Mielke (AUS)
Penny Hosken (AUS)
Rebecca Hoschke (AUS)
Dimity-Lee Duke (AUS)