Wanaka triathlete Braden Currie showed his class in winning the Tauranga half ironman on Saturday and with it being crowned national half-ironman champion.
Currie finished the 2km swim, 90km road bike and 21.1km run in 3hr 52min 26sec to finish ahead of Waiuku triathlete Mark Bowstead, who finished in 3hr 54min.
Eleven-time winner of Ironman New Zealand and 10-time winner of this event Cameron Brown was third in 3hr 55min 6sec.
Currie, who finished second to Australian Craig Alexander last year, said it was a great way to finish off his long-course events.
‘‘I'm stoked to have collected this title again and to have ticked off the half-ironman distance section of my racing this year.
''Winning the Taupo 70.3 in December and then having this result today is awesome but I'm looking forward to focusing on shorter-distance racing now,'' he said.
Currie (29) will now switch his focus to gain selection for the New Zealand triathlon team for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
In Saturday's race, Bowstead left the water in Mount Maunganui's Pilot Bay 30 seconds ahead, leaving Currie nervous going into the bike transition due to Bowstead's renowned time-trialling abilities.
‘‘I did everything I could to keep the gap to him to a minimum and although he opened up two minutes on me in the first half of the bike, the second half he only pulled away by another 30 seconds,'' Currie said.
Bowstead hammered out the fastest bike time of the day but once Currie found his legs on the run, the split times showed he was gaining on the leader.
About half-way though the run, Currie passed Bowstead and finished just over 90 seconds clear at the finish.
Currie's next mission is a sprint triathlon in Kinloch, near Taupo, next month. Though this event is half the distance of the Olympic triathlon, it will be a good test.
He is looking forward to a three-week training camp in Wanaka, starting later this month.
