Karen Smith started her new triathlon season in spectacular fashion with a victory in the female 45-49 age group at the Los Cabos Ironman in Mexico at the weekend.

Smith was the eighteenth- fastest female, the fifth-quickest amateur and came 91st overall in a field of 866 competitors in a time of 10hr 22min 59sec.

The victory qualified Smth for her sixth World Championship Ironman Hawaii, to held in October.

Kent Richardson also produced a strong performance at the Xttera Olympic distance triathlon in Costa Rica, winning the 55-59 male category to also qualify for the World Championships.

Richardson said: “The course was very very hard, tough swim, very very hard bike.

“I train very hard all winter with the mountain bike racing and doing hard running and solid swim workouts. It all paid off with a win.”

Also competing overseas at the weekend was Mark Wilcox who finished fourteenth in the 45-49 age division at the Oceanside, USA 70.3 Half Ironman Traithlon.

Wilcox completed the 1.2- mile swim in 33.37, the 56-mile bike ride in 2:41:49 and the 13.1-mile run in 1:28:50.

Two-times Olympian Flora Duffy will hope to continue her impressive start to the season when she takes on a strong professional field at the South Beach Triathlon in Florida this weekend.

The competition is part of the Life Time Tri Series with $30,000 in prize money up for grabs.