Warriner ready for an Olympic medal
28 Apr 2008
The Whangarei based blueseventy athlete was thrilled with the win, especially given where she is at with regards her preparation for Beijing.
“Absolutely, I am so happy. I have just spent four months in New Zealand on the base phase of my training so to win at this stage is a bonus. There is such a long way to go yet, I am only making my transition from base to strength phase in training so yes, I’m really stoked with today.”
“I had a good swim start getting myself clear and being in the lead pack at the buoy. However once round the buoys we were swimming back to shore and a media boat miss-timed the current and drifted into us, I had to swim under the boat which freaked me a bit so I lost a few spots but I still managed to get out with the lead pack so I was stoked.”
Warriner emerged early in the run alongside teenage British and fellow blueseventy athlete Holy Avil and Vendula Frintova (CZE) and went about putting in a number of surges to drop both. Frintova was the first to fall away and Avil went on the final time through transition as the athletes climbed a small incline.
Warriner has also featured in the media recently as she strives to help a friend in need with cancer. She replicated the Beijing course using a pool, stationery bike and treadmill as a fundraiser for SKIN (a local charity supporting youth in need) and not only beat Vanessa Fernandes’s record on the same course, but also raised over $2000!
Congratulations Sam, we wish you all the best for your continued Olympic build-up!
Tongyeong ITU BG World Cup, South Korea 26 April 2008
Results: Elite Women
1. Sam Warriner (Whangarei, NZL) 1:49:49
2. Holly Avil (GBR) +0:00:09
3. Vendula Frintova (CZE) 0:00:31
4. Ai.Ueda (JPN) 0:00:57
5. Kirsten Sweetland (CAN) 0:01:18
6. Olga Zausaylova (RUS) 0:01:29
7. Irina Abysova (RUS) 0:01:32
8. Nicola Spirig (SUI) 0:01:35
9. Lisa Mensink (NED) 0:01:38