As she approaches the finish line on Sunday, Andrea Hewitt will be greeted by a tribute to Laurent Vidal -- her late fiancé, coach and inspiration.
Hewitt was too emotional to appear on camera, but lead triathlon coach Jon Brown says he's proud of how well the 33-year-old has progressed.
"The speed and the quality of how she's put things together has been fantastic really -- where she is right now, I dont think it could've been any better," he said.
Hewitt and Vidal were an inseparable team, so the first race since his death will be incredibly tough, but the Kiwi number one has a timely distraction -- Rio.
And with World No.1 Gwen Jorgensen at the start line, along with fifty top-ranked triathletes, Hewitt will need all her focus.
"It's a pretty big race for Andrea and quite a difficult one as well, but just great that I can be there and train in the lead up to that race," Ryan Sissons said.
Sissons was also coached by Vidal, and once the 27-year-old qualified for the Olympics, he changed his racing schedule to include New Plymouth.
"A couple of years ago I raced against Laurent -- I beat him that day so I was pretty stoked," he said.
"He always enjoyed this race -- done it a fair few times, so pretty cool to come back."
Unlike Sissons, Tony Dodds has yet to achieve the Olympic requirement of two world triathlon top 8 finishes -- but recovering from a hip injury, the 28-year-old's still a work in progress.
"I'm getting there -- it will be another few races yet before I'm really there but this will be a good tester and hit-up," he said.
Especially with world No.3 Richard Murray back to defend his Sprint by the Sea title.
"The likes of Ryan Sissons and Doddsy -- they've got quite a kick on them," Murray said.
"They're very strong, they're in front of a home crowd, so that will give them a little bit of a spur on."
And with a tribute at the end, hopefully it may just spur Hewitt on to achieve her dream.
Newshub.