Taupō’s Kyle Smith will make his ironman debut at Saturday’s Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand, in the town where he was first introduced to the sport.

While he will be lining up against the country’s top triathletes, Smith has racked up a number of shorter distance successes, winning his last three, as well as tasting victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Taupō in December 2019.

The former Taupōnui-a-Tia College student feels his preparation is on target.

“All things considered I’m training really well,” he said.

“If it was a half I’d be really confident but given it’s an ironman I don’t really know, but I’m in the best shape that I can be.”

The postponement from March 6 had given him more time to recover from three races in four weeks.

“My legs feel a lot fresher and I got back into some solid training... so we can hopefully get through the ironman in the best way we can,” he said.

The 23-year-old was looking forward to making his professional debut in his hometown and hoped to draw on the energy of spectators during the 3.8km swim, 180km ride and 42km run.

“I can’t wait to race in front of my home crowd, I’m a Taupō boy through and through,” he said.

“I’ve debuted all of my triathlons in Taupō, my first ever introduction to triathlon, my first sprint distance, all of my distances have been there. Hopefully I can get everyone pretty amped out on the course and inspire the next group of local triathletes.”

He felt he owed supporters for his 2019 win in IRONMAN 70.3.

“I was in a world of pain there, I had hit a brick wall coming home, that last stretch 4km to go, 3km to go, and I got into the home crowd, I couldn’t hear myself think with everyone screaming my name,” he said.

The event was important for the Taupō community, he said, evident in the way it was moved to a new date at short notice.

“The whole town changes for ironman, it’s almost like a festival weekend.”

The race will see him go toe-to-toe with good friend and rival Braden Currie, 2017 Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand champion.

Smith has had the edge in their most recent starts.

“It’s a bit like the veteran versus the student at the moment, and it’s been great. It’s been such a cool summer of racing... but we’re actually really good friends outside of that, it’s cool how we can be mates and when the gun goes off get into it.”

While the field was smaller without visiting international athletes, Smith said there was still plenty of talent in the field.

“You’ve got Braden who’s got a fifth at Kona, Mike Phillips who previously owned the record and has won a bunch of races over ironman distance and Cameron Brown, the crowned king of Taupō, and then you’ve got guys like Jack Moody who is a class athlete and shouldn’t be underestimated,” he said.

Taupō District Council events manager Steve Giles said the postponement had affected about 10 per cent of original entrants but overall the numbers were encouraging and on a par with previous full ironman events before the addition of the concurrent 70.3 race.

Credit: Stuff.co.nz