Two glamour names and glamour faces of world triathlon, American Wendy Ingraham and Brazilian Fernanda Keller head a strong women's field for Ironman New Zealand in Taupo next month. Ingraham and Keller have five international Ironman victories and a remarkable 21 top-10 finishes at the Ironman Triathlon World Championships between them. The pair, who have fought some remarkable duels on the racetrack, are equally well known for their outgoing and high profile lifestyles.

They lead arguably the strongest women's field that includes two-time Ironman Lanzarote winner Lena Wahlqvist (Sweden), Ironman Malaysia winner Belinda Cheney, and her Australian compatriot Robyn Roocke. There will be considerable interest in the performances of Helene Salomon (France), third in the world long distance championships, and Lucy Smith (Canada), former world duathlon medallist.

And the battle for Kiwi supremacy will be hard fought between Karyn Ballance (Christchurch), runner-up for the past three years, Jo Lawn (Auckland) who was 11^th at the Ironman Triathlon World Championships, and Lynley Allison (Auckland), making her professional debut after winning her age group world title at Hawaii.

``This is definitely the strongest women's field we've had in Taupo, with two of the real superstars of the sport topping it off,'' race director Keith Thorpe said. ``There's winners of seven Ironman titles in the field, and I think anyone of maybe seven or eight athletes could win. ``Fernanda and Wendy add some real international class. They have probably been the most consistent Ironman competitors over the past decade or more. It great to have a field of this caliber, especially when you consider our defending champion Lisa Bentley is out after recently returning from injury as is Tara-Lee Marshall from Taupo, both of them two-time Ironman winners.''

Keller, 38, is a sporting icon in Brazil, matching outstanding performances as a triathlete with a glamour life as a model with her own fashion lines. The Brazilian is a national hero with her own initiated trust program to help street kids and youth at risk in her native Rio de Janeiro through introduction to sport. Her only victory has come in her native Ironman Brazil, and she is now part of the organizing group for the event.

She is best known for her remarkable run of form at the Ironman Triathlon World Championships where she finished in third place six times in seven years from 1994. Her most famous third came in 1997 when she past Ingraham on the finish line after the American, who led for most of the race, was forced to crawl across the line after collapsing. She placed sixth last year.

Ingraham, who lives in San Francisco, is an All American College swim star, who turned to triathlon after a bet with her father. Her Ironman victories came in Australia in 1995, Austria in 1999 and 2000, while her last win came in the 2001 Ironman Brazil race where she overcame Keller on her home turf. The irony is that Ingraham has never made it to the podium at Kona, Hawaii, finishing fourth on three occasions, including that agonizing 1997 effort, and fifth twice. Ingraham has one major mark at Kona, breaking the swim record in 1997 and again in 1998, while she is regarded as one of the fun characters of the sport.

Thorpe will announce the seeds for both men's and women's fields this week for the 18^th Ironman New Zealand triathlon that has drawn a record field of 1135 entries.