Mount Maunganui College head boy Sam Durrant is the newest member of the national age group triathlon team.

He won a place in the team by placing third in the under-18-19 event in the National Sprint Triathlon Championships held in Taupo at the weekend.

Sam Durrant on the run at Taupo.

The race was a 750m swim in Lake Taupo, followed by a 20km road bike around Kinloch finishing with a 5km run including a road and off road course.

Sam had a solid swim, and gained time and positions with a fast transition from swim to bike.

The cycle leg was over an undulating course where speeds of up to 60km/h are reached.

Sam again had a very fast transition from bike to run.

There were two laps of the run course and Sam set a steady pace on lap one which put him in a good position to make his attack in the final lap.

Sam overtook several competitors in the run and had a sprint finish to overtake some competitors in the final few metres.

His finishing time qualified him to represent New Zealand in the ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships, which is in Auckland in October.

'I'm really happy with my result and very excited to be selected to represent New Zealand in triathlon,” says Sam.

'This has been my goal and my hard work has paid off as I have achieved it with the support and help of my coaches, family, and sponsors.”

Sam has been training hard for this selection event over the past year and it was his target race for the season.

At the event last year he had a mechanical problem with his wetsuit and this put him out of the placings and ended his contention for the national team.

Sam is coached by Lyndy Wickham and Liz van Welie and is sponsored by Avanti Plus Mount Maunganui.