The Auckland teenager Michael Poole has become the youngest winner of the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman in Mt Maunganui.
18-year-old Poole had no ambitions of winning the 2km swim, 90km bike and 21km run, treating the day for experience following his win over the standard distance at Whangamata last weekend.
Poole finished almost 2 minutes ahead of James Bowstead of Franklin.
Whangarei's Samantha Warriner ran down Swiss leader Caroline Steffen to claim back-to-back honours in the women's race that doubled as the official Triathlon New Zealand
Championships.
