Jon Linyard led from start to finish in the first race of the Nelson Triathlon Club's summer sprint series at Rabbit Island yesterday, building a handy lead in the opening swim.

Showing trademark consistency, Linyard held on as Ed Rimmer put in the quickest individual bike and run legs to halve the 90-second deficit by the finish.

It was a perfect Nelson day as swimmers cut through dead calm, clear water in the 750m swim.

Matt Newberry was a minute behind as they ran from the water, with 14-year-old Hayden Squance right behind him and Rimmer a further 20 seconds back.

Jude Vincent was the first woman to emerge from the swim, ahead of Kim Waddell and Maria Voigt.

Waddell showed strength on the bike to move past Vincent, the pair running similar times for Waddell to claim victory in her first triathlon, with Voigt in third.

There were no surprises at the front of the men's race, as Newberry and Squance held on for third and fourth. Garry Clarke recovered from a sluggish swim to take fifth.

British visitor Graham Plews came to New Zealand for the Auckland world championships, where he placed second behind Nelson's Ben Van Dyke in the M60-64 aquathlon and went on to take bronze in the Olympic distance triathlon.

At Rabbit Island yesterday, despite being in holiday mode, he cruised through for sixth.

Jane Orbell was too good for 14-year-old Sam Harrison, in the short triathlon, building a lead in the 250m swim and holding on through the 8km bike and 3km run.

Brooke Matheson put in the quickest swim, but had to be content with third, despite consistent bike and run sections.

Alister Dickson started and ended the duathlon with the quickest run times, but Sandra Watts used her superior bike strength to nail the win.

Paul Howell had a similar run advantage in the short duathlon.

Although Susan Albert clawed back nearly two minutes on the bike and held the lead for a while, she could not hold off Howell and finished in second.

A score of children took part in a race for 5 to 12-year-olds.

The next event on the triathlon calendar is the Sport Tasman Xtri, a triathlon at Rabbit Island with a swim followed by mountainbike and cross-country run sections on December 16.

Information and results at nelsontriclub.co.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News