Defending champions Braden Currie and Amelia Rose Watkinson have both retained their Port of Tauranga Half triathlon crowns.

As part of the Mount Festival of Multisport, spokesman Dean Wilson says there were about 700 entries in this year's edition of the iconic annual triathlon which took place in Mount Maunganui.

'It was a beautiful day of racing, along with the defending champs Braden and Amelia retaining their crowns, there were some really strong performances right across the field.

'The water was pretty choppy out at Pilot Bay this morning which made the swim leg quite tough for everyone, but for the rest of the race the conditions were near perfect.”

In the men's division, Wanaka triathlete Braden Currie won this year's POT Half in a race record time of 3:45:38. After being second out of the water, Currie took the lead midway through the bike and 'just stormed home from there”.

'It was an incredible race and showed why he's the star of long distance triathlon in New Zealand.”

Coming in at second was Auckland-based long distance legend Cameron Brown (3:47:55), and hot on his heals was 19-year-old Whakatane triathlete Hayden Wilde (3:48:33) who challenged the 44-year-old Brown throughout the entire race.

'Hayden was the two-day Coast to Coast champion in 2016, and he's certainly making a name for himself in multisports. Unfortunately for him, Cameron managed to pick him up with 5kms to go, it was an incredible performance from Cameron.”

While in the women's division, defending champion and Thailand-based Kiwi triathlete Amelia Rose Watkinson retained her crown with a time of 4:16:30.

'It's been a long season for Amelia, after winning the 2015 POT Half she relocated to Thailand and won 10 titles on the Asian triathlon circuit.

'She had a couple of strong local challenges too, with Julia Grant from Ashburton finishing second in a time of 4:19:04, while Teresa Adam from Auckland finished third with a time of 4:20:08.”

The Port of Tauranga Half is the feature event on the Mount Festival of Multisport programme, which includes the Under Armour Mount Run and Jetts Dash for Cash in Pilot Bay on Saturday, and the NZ Beach Volleyball Champs on Mount Maunganui's Main Beach over the weekend

On behalf of the organisers, Dean wants to thank all the competitors who slugged it out in today's POT Half, and the locals who turned out in their droves to support the triathletes.

'It's the iconic triathlon in New Zealand and the amazing thing for the event, and especially the athletes, is the local people who come out and support.

'There were big crowds down here at Pilot Bay and lining the course today, and I know for a fact that's why the athletes keep coming back.”

For more information visit the Mount Festival of Multisport website at: mountfestival.kiwi