ASPIRING pro triathlete Dan Halksworth has chased an Olympic bronze medallist to the finish line at the New Zealand Triathlon Sprint Nationals.

The Commonwealth and Island Games swimmer – who is spending the winter season in intensive triathlon training in Auckland – finished his swim just six seconds behind Bevan Docherty, who took overall honours and won the open men’s event.

Halksworth, who is sponsored by Dominion Fiduciary Services Group, finished seventh in the open men’s event and tenth overall – just over four minutes behind Bevan – but said he felt he could have finished even higher up the pack.

He said: ‘I finished tenth so it wasn’t exactly a bad performance, but I felt with the times that I’ve been doing in training, the result doesn’t show my true form.’ ‘But that’s how triathlons go – you have to be so clued up with everything you do, and you can’t sit in and relax at any point. In any case, it’s all lessons learnt, and now I’m looking forward to a big month ahead.’