Hundreds of Bay of Plenty children will get up close and personal with two of New Zealand's top sporting stars at the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon in Mount Maunganui today.

Young athletes will swim, cycle and run their way to the finish line to receive a medal from Mount locals, NZ National Women's Rugby Sevens player Sarah Goss and Olympic medallist Luuka Jones.

This year the iconic annual sporting event has found a new home in the Bay and is set to take place at Arataki Park in the Mount, starting at 9am.

The TRYathalon starts with a 50m-200m swim at Baywave Aquatic Centre, followed by a 4km-8km cycle through the streets of Arataki, and finishes with a 1.5km run around Arataki Park. Distances vary depending on age group.

The 20169 series marks the 25th anniversary of the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, and looks set to be the most successful ever, with entries across New Zealand up 42 per cent on last year.

The increase in children aged 7-15 enrolling for the iconic sporting event also continues the trend for the triathlons growing popularity.

The very first event held in 1992 saw just 800 entrants. Fast forward to the 2015/16 TRYathlon series and entry umbers grew to 28,000 – and the latest figures suggest this year's triathlon is set to top every event so far.

Online registrations for the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon is now closed but manual registrations will still be accepted from 7-8am today. The TRYathlon

To enter go to try.weetbix.co.nz for more information.

Olympic medallist Luuka Jones. File Photo.

NZ National Women's Rugby Sevens player Sarah Goss. File Photo.