Taranaki pair to compete at University Games

Taranaki will be represented by swimmer Julian Weir and sprinter Zoe Hobbs at the World University Games in Taiwan.

The games, which run from the August 19-30, are staged every two years and are being held in Taipei for the first time.

The games are the second largest event behind the Olympics and include 17 different sports.

Hobbs will be competing in the 100m and 200m sprint races. She has been in Japan with the New Zealand team completing their precamp preparations while Weir will compete in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle events.

According to Weir, both athletes had to meet qualifying criteria to be selected for the games with both athletes using the event in their build-up to next year’s Commonwealth Games.

‘‘We have both worked hard to gain selection as the World University Games are the first of two qualifying events for the Commonwealth Games so it is important we do well’’ he said.

‘‘It’s a big event and will feature a lot of international athletes who are building towards the next Olympic cycle so it will be a very high level of competition.

‘‘It is really important that we have access to international competition as ideally we would like to better the qualification standard for the Commonwealth Games, which will be tough to achieve.’’