Tri, tri ... and try for gold | Auckland Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Auckland

A young Campbells Bay triathlete dutifully swims, cycles and runs towards her Olympic dream. Valerie Schuler uncovers the strenuous training involved.

Maddie Dillon emerges from the sea. Clad in a slick black wetsuit, she takes off her
swimming cap, shakes saltwater from her hair and pulls waterproof gum out of her ears.

It's 7am, and the young triathlete has just finished her first swim of the day.

It's cold and choppy out there. But that's no distraction for a girl whose sights are set on the Olympics.

The 16-year-old from Campbells Bay won gold in her age group at the Triathlon World Champs on the Gold Coast in September. She has since been picked for a development squad for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"I've been doing this for years, but only got really serious since I started high school,'' says Maddie, a Year 11 student at Kristin School in Albany. "I wasn't bad at it and thought 'why not?'. I love the training, the environment and being around all the people.''

Maddie swims, cycles and runs for excruciatingly long hours most days.

To stay motivated, she has pictures of top Kiwi triathletes Debbie Tanner and Andrea Hewitt on the kitchen wall at home. There are also photographs of Rio de Janeiro and Budapest, where next year's World Champs will be held.

"It's my goal. I don't do that much else, but I'm happy,'' says Maddie.

The aspiring Olympian comes from a family of triathletes. Her father, Jeremy Dillon, is the junior manager for North Harbour Triathlon. Both parents and her older brother compete in the sport.

The family's home overlooks Campbells Bay, where Maddie goes for her long, daily swims. Her accomplishments join a chain of recent successes for the North Harbour Triathlon Club.

Three of its male seniors, Walter Thorburn, Stephen Farrell and Greg Bal, made a clean sweep at the Long Distance World Champs  in Perth last month.

Formed in 1980, the triathlon club of about 250 members is the only one of its kind on the North Shore. It has attracted big names like Terenzo Bozzone, Anna Hamilton, Rebecca Spence and Debbie Tanner.

"The club has around 50 junior members, but many of these drop off after they finish school. It's something we are working at addressing,'' says Mr Dillon.

Junior membership is expected to grow with the relaunch of the Takapuna Aquathon series, now re-branded the Orca Takapuna Swim'n'Run series. The club hopes weekly cash prizes will attract young competitors from all over Auckland.

Maddie's next step is a Triathlon New Zealand training camp in Christchurch next month. High-performance squads from around the country will get together for two weeks of intensive training and assessment. Maddie will be the youngest of 11 on the junior squad.

"It's about earmarking for the future and developing New Zealand athletes for the Olympics,'' says Stephen Sheldrake of Triathlon New Zealand.

"We need to have a pool of athletes coming through to replace the older ones.''

More info: www.nhtc.org.nz