Hayden Wilde’s master plan for global triathlon domination in 2026 would be off to the perfect start if it weren’t for the world suddenly finding itself in such a precarious moment.
The Kiwi talisman kept his end of the early season bargain by winning the Oceania Sprint Championships in a canter on Sunday, the spearhead of a rare continental podium sweep for New Zealand in Napier alongside plucky Cantabs Saxon Morgan and Henry McMecking.
It would have been an ideal stepping-stone towards World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) Abu Dhabi on March 28… if only the season opener didn’t now seem so utterly inconsequential in the aftermath of the US-Israel strikes on Iran overnight.
With the Middle East at war, World Triathlon, Wilde and co. are likely going to need to pivot. At least the Whakatane 28-year-old knows how to respond in a crisis, as he showed after his potentially career-ending training ride crash in Tokyo last May.
Last year it was a smashed left scapular, six broken ribs and a punctured lung that cost him a decent shot at the WTCS title. This year it might just mean giving the Middle East a wide berth for a bit. Let’s hope so anyway.
“My thoughts go out to the people in the UAE and everywhere around that area in general,” Wilde said after winning Sunday’s sprint in 51:45, easing off to win by eight seconds from Morgan.
“Sad to see, but yeah, I guess people’s safety comes first, and if Abu Dhabi happens, it happens. If not, we just have to reassess and potentially stay on this side of the world for a little bit longer until probably Yokohama [round 3 of World Triathlon’s showcase circuit scheduled for March 17].
“Yeah, we’ve got our contingency plans, and it [might] just means I get a little bit of extra training under the belt heading into the start of the season.”
Time will tell what happens to the global calendar. In the meantime, all Wilde can do is keep finding ways to stay fresh.
That’ll start at next weekend’s Athletics NZ Track & Field Championships in Manukau where he’ll contest the 5000m in a continuation of his discipline specific focus in the countdown to his LA ’28 bid. Wilde finished 4th in the TT at the recent Cycling NZ Elite Road Racing Nationals in Te Awamutu.
“Yeah, it’s just to mix it up a bit. I don’t want to do triathlon all the time,” Wilde said.
“It’s good to get out of the sport a little bit and just to kind of collaborate a little bit with the Cycling New Zealand [road nationals] and do track athletic nationals next weekend for the 5000. It’s really nice to kind of get out there and get around that sort of racing.”
Wilde’s race on Sunday was set up by a great swim in Hawke Bay, burying the demons of 2024 when he was near dead last out of the water at World Cup Napier. When he entered T1 at the tail of the leading pack, his rivals knew they were racing for second. And if they were still delusional, it lasted only till Wilde attacked late on the penultimate lap of the bike and was never caught.
Despite a footwear faux pas.
“Today I made sure I made myself work hard on the bike and got a bit of a breakaway and to see if I could run hard on tight legs. And yeah, I’ve had a bit of an issue with my shoes. I put a bit too much jelly, a little bit too much oil in the shoes to get the shoes on quickly, and I was slipping all over the show, so I think I lost a lot of time with a slippery pair of shoes. Next time, I’ll just use a bit of baby powder.”
This was arguably Morgan’s best Oceania result and certainly his strongest start to a season in several years. He and McMecking bravely held off Oscar Wootton and Lachlan Jones after a ding-dong footrace over the 5km run.
It was a repeat of their 2-3 at last September’s Asia Cup Gamagori and was definitely a milestone for McMecking who nabbed the U23 continental title from Wootton in addition to the elite bronze. Just off the U23 podium was Robbie White who finished 9th overall, a place behind Aussie-based Kiwi Joel Lange in his best result at this level.
Goodisson best of the Kiwi women
Earlier, Canadian Desirae Ridenour ran away with women’s title to back-up her breakout World Cup Napier win here 12 months ago.
As the first eligible athlete home in 2nd, Aussie star-in-waiting Aspen Anderson completed a rare Elite and U23 continental double, a brilliant result for her first race out of the Junior (U19) ranks.
Eva Goodisson was the best of the Kiwis in 5th with Nicole van der Kaay overcaming two rusty transitions to finish 7th and seal the second spot in the NZL ‘1’ Team of Goodisson, Morgan, NVDK and Wilde for Monday morning’s Oceania Mixed Relay Championships at Mitre 10 Park in Hastings.
The NZL 2 team is Ainsley Thorpe, McMecking, Brea Roderick and Lange after Thorpe and Roderick finished 10th and 8th respectively in the individual women’s race.
Phoebe Carter, daughter of former Olympic champion Hamish, and Auckland’s Charlotte Brown claimed silver and bronze in the U23 race behind Anderson.
Oceania Triathlon Sprint Championships
March 1, 2026
Ahuriri Beach, Napier
750m swim / 20kmm bike /5km run
MEN
1. Hayden Wilde (NZL) – 51:45
2. Saxon Morgan (NZL) – 51:53
3. Henry McMecking (NZL) – 51:57
Also NZL
8. Joel Lange – 52:45
9. Robbie White – 52:48
14. Cameron Maunder – 54:13
17. Caleb Wagener – 55:05
19. Gus Marfell – 55:33
20. Benjamin Airey – 55:33
21. Alex Ball – 55:48
22. Christian Davey – 55:53
24. Connor Kemp – 56:13
25. Luke Kuggeleijn – 56:22
26. Oliver Larcombe – 56:35
27. William Taylor – 56:38
28. Jett Curteis – 56:54
30. Grayson Westgate – 57:08
32. Oliver Christie – 57:44
33. Theo Bray – 57:45
35. Oliver Barnett – 58:37
36. Ashton Upfold – 59:58
Lapped. Ryan Marfell
DNF. Ivan Abele
DNF. Olli Aitken
U23 Podium
1. Henry McMecking (NZL) – 51:57
2. Oscar Wootton (AUS) – 52:00
3. Darcy Williams (AUS) – 52:31
WOMEN
1. Desirae Ridenour (CAN) – 58:11
2. Aspen Anderson (AUS) – 58:19
3. Richelle Hill (AUS) – 58:27
4. Sophie Malowiecki (AUS) – 58:33*
Also NZL
5. Eva Goodisson – triathlete page – 58:41
7. Nicole van der Kaay- Triathlete – 59:02
8. Brea Roderick – Athlete – 59:12
10. Ainsley Thorpe Triathlete – 59:52
11. Phoebe Carter – 1:00:32
12. Charlotte Brown – 1:01:35
13. Sophie Webber – 1:02:13
15. Amara Rae 1:02:41
16. Charlotte Chiles – 1:04:14
18. Mila Laarakkers – 1:04:50
19. Lucy Evans – 1:06:40
20. Maia Adams – 1:09:15
21. Sarah Hay – 1:11:07
DNF. Brooke Davis-Goodall
DNS. Isabelle Bannister
U23 Podium
2. Aspen Anderson (AUS) – 58:19
11. Phoebe Carter – 1:00:32
12. Charlotte Brown – 1:01:35
* Malowiecki was third in the Oceania Elite race given Ridenour’s ineligibili
