By Kent Gray/Triathlon.kiwi
A family of four including twin brothers, a second married couple and another father and son combo ensure a unique and already tight-knit makeup to the New Zealand team set to take on the World Triathlon Multisport Championship in Spain.
By sheer weight of numbers, not to mention their starring appearance in Tri NZ’s new digital magazine Triathlon Quarterly (‘Miller Time’, scroll to page 102), the Miller clan of Triathlon Tauranga fame headline the 61-strong NZL team in Ibiza.
Father Paul and son Blake are among the 12 Kiwis set to line up in the opening event of the six-discipline, 10-day festival – Saturday’s Sprint Distance Duathlon.
They’ll be back at it for the Aquathlon on May 1, alongside dutiful wife and proud mother Kathy Miller, while Blake’s twin Liam will contest the Long Distance Aquabike on May 7.
Husband and wife Rachel and Andrew McCulloch will also race the Long Distance Aquabike while another Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club dynamic duo, father and son Barry and Thomas Herbison, will line up in the Aquathlon and Long Distance Triathlon (55-59 age group) and Sprint Duathlon and Aquathlon (25-29) respectively.
The Herbisons won’t be the busiest Kiwis on the party Island with Auckland City Tri Club’s Jerym Brunton and Patrick Johnson set to compete in a staggering five events apiece.
They’ve both entered the Sprint Duathlon, Aquathlon and Cross Duathlon (mountain biking/trail run) while Brunton will add the Cross Triathlon and Long Distance Triathlon to his hectic schedule. Johnson, meanwhile, is tagging on the Standard Distance Duathlon and Long Distance Aquabike to his extraordinary effort of endurance.
Taupo mother-of-two Kate Brown (pictured above) will take an inspirational, tear-stained story into the Long Distance Aquabike while Paul Botha will represent NZL in the men’s equivalent in just his first year in triathlon. Botha hails from Canterbury Triathlon Club, the most well-represented of the Kiwi clubs in Ibiza, and is a poster boy, even in the 45-49 age group, for the Suzuki NZ Series-World Triathlon eco-system.
More than 3000 athletes from 61 nations will compete in Ibiza across Elite, U23, Junior, Para and Age Group racing.
Scotland-based Joel Lange is the sole Kiwi elite racing in Ibiza in the Aquathlon although New Zealand professionals Ameila Watkinson, Rebecca Clarke and Kyle Smith will compete in the inaugural PTO European Open on May 6. The 100km race is being co-hosted in Ibiza.
Stay tuned to Triathlon.kiwi for coverage from Ibiza across the next 10 days.
Kiwis at the World Triathlon Multisport Championship
April 29
SPRINT DUATHLON (Santa Eularia, Ibiza)
8th – Susan O’Brien (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
6th- Shirley Rolston (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 70-74
GOLD – Blake Miller (Triathlon Tauranga) 20-24
11th- Finian Orr (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 20-24
31st- Thomas Herbison (Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club) 25-29
38th – Patrick Johnson (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
40th- Conor Pendergast (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
34th – Steven Green (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 45-49
18th – Jerym Brunton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 50-54
43rd – Paul Miller (Triathlon Tauranga) 50-54
12th – Jeff Shields (Triathlon Tauranga) 60-64
DNF – Alan McIntyre (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 65-69. NB: Hamstring injury.
April 30
STANDARD DISTANCE DUATHLON (Santa Eularia, Ibiza)
Shirley Rolston (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 70-74
Alex Bees (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 30-34
Alexander Carr (Overseas) 30-34
Morgan Lumsden (Nelson Triathlon & Multisport Club) 30-34
Patrick Johnson (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
Jonathan Gray (Triathlon Tauranga) 45-49
David Scott (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 60-64
May 1
AQUATHLON (Santa Eularia, Ibiza)
Joel Lange (Overseas) ELITE
Rebecca Swainson (Overseas) 25-29
Tamara Novak (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 30-34
Angie Keen (Taranaki Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
Susan O’Brien (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
Jenny Melik (Overseas) 45-49
Kathy Miller (Triathlon Tauranga) 45-49
Jan Smeaton (Tri-Sport Taupo) 60-64
Shirley Rolston (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 70-74
Blake Miller (Triathlon Tauranga) 20-24
Finian Orr (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 20-24
Thomas Herbison (Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club) 25-29
Adam Hillis (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 25-29
Alex Bees (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 30-34
Jayden Hopkinson (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 30-34
Patrick Johnson (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
Bradley Smith (Taranaki Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
Jonathan Gray (Triathlon Tauranga) 45-49
Jerym Brunton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 50-54
Paul Miller (Triathlon Tauranga) 50-54
Kristof Milne (Southland Triathlon & Multisport Club) 50-54
Mark Esselink (Oamaru Multisport Club) 55-59
Barry Herbison (Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club) 55-59
Kevin Hunt (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 60-64
Peter Nock (Tri-Sport Taupo) 60-64
David Scott (Wellington Triathlon Club) 60-64
May 3
CROSS DUATHLON (Sant Antoni, Ibiza)
Angie Keen (Taranaki Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
Jayden Hopkinson (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 30-34
Patrick Johnson (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
Jerym Brunton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 50-54
Gareth Cashin (Nelson Triathlon & Multisport Club) 50-54
May 5
CROSS TRIATHLON (Sant Antoni, Ibiza)
Jerym Brunton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 50-54
Gareth Cashin (Nelson Triathlon & Multisport Club) 50-54
May 7
LONG DISTANCE TRIATHLON (Eivissa, Ibiza)
Emma Smith (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 20-24
Hannah Maher (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 25-29
Rebecca Swainson (Overseas) 25-29
Aleisha Williams (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 25-29
Kylie Brown (North Harbour Triathlon Club) 35-39
Emily Jane Hunt (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 40-44
Jenny Melik (Overseas) 45-49
Harrison Lloyd (Dunedin Triathlon & Multisport Club) 20-24
Nick Benton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 25-29
Adam Hillis (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 25-29
Connor Shivnan (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 25-29
Morgan Lumsden (Nelson Triathlon & Multisport Club) 30-34
Andy Higginbotham (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 45-49
Paul Koot (Manawatu Triathlon Club) 45-49
Jerym Brunton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 50-54
Mark Esselink (Oamaru Multisport Club) 55-59
Barry Herbison (Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club) 55-59
Andrew McLeod (Tri Wanaka) 60-64
David Scott (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 60-64
Richard Baker (Overseas) 70-74
May 7
LONG DISTANCE AQUABIKE (Eivissa, Ibiza)
Alana Stretton (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 30-34
Danielle Trewoon (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 30-34
Danella Nicholls (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
Susan O’Brien (Wellington Triathlon & Multisport Club) 35-39
Kate Brown (Tri-Sport Taupo) 45-49
Rachel McCulloch (Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club) 50-54
Maria Jones (Tri Wanaka) 55-59
Myriam Smith (Overseas) 55-59
Shirley Rolston (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 70-74
Liam Miller (Triathlon Tauranga) 20-24
Alex Bees (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 30-34
Patrick Johnson (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
Anthony Nansen (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 35-39
Paul Botha (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 45-49
Jonathan Gray (Triathlon Tauranga) 45-49
Michael Crowe (Nelson Triathlon & Multisport Club) 50-54
Kristof Milne (Southland Triathlon & Multisport Club) 50-54
Michael Glynn (Auckland City Triathlon Club) 55-59
Timothy Raw (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 55-59
Nick Holdsworth (Tri Wanaka) 60-64
Kevin Hunt (Canterbury Triathlon Club) 60-64
Peter Jackson (Tri Wanaka) 60-64
Andrew McCulloch (Hibiscus Coast Harriers & Triathlon Club) 65-69
