By Kent Gray/Triathlon.kiwi
While the race for Olympic Games spots in Paris is the all-consuming short course narrative currently, Tri NZ’s future-focused next gen is set for a closer to home development challenge.
A 21-strong NZL team will contest the inaugural Oceania Triathlon Super Sprint Championships on the Gold Coast on Friday, including recent Bay Radiology NZ Schools champions Hayley Cornwall (main picture) and Finnley Oliver.
It promises to be a brutal and rapid-fire eight hours with qualifiers, repechages, semifinals and finals at the impressive Gold Coast Performance Centre in Runaway Bay.
Each race will feature a 150m pool swim before 4km and 1km bike and run legs on the facilities’ criterium and athletics tracks respectively.
Save for top Kiwi seeds Lachlan Haycock and Eva Goodisson, the Kiwi team are all U23s with ambitions focused on the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Games beyond.
The men’s competition features three qualifiers. The top four from each secure semi-finals spots, while the remaining athletes face the challenge of two repechages. The top five from each repechage will advance to the semi-finals where the top eight from each will punch their tickets to the 16-man final.
Two will advance from each of the three women’s qualifiers. Two repechages will then find the remaining 10 athletes to form the 16-woman final. Emma Jeffcoat, Charlotte McShane, Kira Hedgeland, Tara Sosinski and rising star Aspen Anderson will make it tough for the Kiwi women.
Elite Men
Qualifier 1
Henry McMecking
James Corbett
Gus Marfell
Reeve Dooney
Qualifier 2
Benjamin Airey
Dion Wallwork
Jett Curteis
Will Taylor
Qualifier 3
Lachlan Haycock
Oliver Larcombe
Finnley Oliver
Cameron Maunder
Elite Women
Qualifier 1
Hayley Cornwall
Isabelle Bannister
Lulu Johnson
Qualifier 2
Sarah McClure
Hannah Howell
Lucy Evans
Qualifier 3
Eva Goodisson
Sophie Webber
Charlotte Brown
