Saxon Morgan and Eva Goodisson topped the timing sheets as the trial race tagged to Tri NZ’s annual High Performance Forum turned from a super sprint triathlon to an aquathlon on Thursday.
The same wild weather that seriously curtailed the Bay Radiology NZ Schools Triathlon Championships at the same venue forced the late switch from the main Mt Maunganui beach to sheltered Pilot Bay and the triathlon to a 400m swim, 2.25km run.
Morgan led the seven-strong men’s trial in 14:46, finishing 18 seconds clear of Canterbury colleague Henry McMecking with Blenhiem’s Gus Marfell third.
Goodisson won the women’s race in 16:30, 14sec clear of Phoebe Carter who used her run speed to eclipse Brea Roderick, 9mins 52sec plays 10mins 03secs for the 2.25km run. The trio had come out of the water level-pegging with Goodisson streaking away with a 9min 38sec run split.
The trial, as Team NZL eye critical Mixed Relays at WTCS level when the LA 28 Olympics Games qualification window opens in mid May, wrapped up the HP forum. Adaptability in the miserable conditions won’t have gone unnoticed by selectors, nor a couple of notable run splits in the strong, gusty winds.
The forum included 400m freestyle time trials in the pool to be used for prognostics and tracking purposes. A number of athletes produced 400m PBs in a promising sign for the big World Triathlon races to come.
The Oceania Super Sprint Championships at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast on April 18-19 is the next trial with an eye to mixed relays at WTCS Quiberon on June 21-22 and WTCS Hamburg, which doubles as the World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships, on July 12-13.
A number in the Tri NZ HP programme will warm-up for Runaway Bay at Oceania Cup Gold Coast on April 12 – part of the Pho3nix Gold Coast /Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon Festival.
Tri NZ Elite Aquathlon
Thursday, March 26
Mt Maunganui
(400m swim / 2.25km run splits in parentheses)
Male
1. Saxon Morgan – 00:14:46 (00:06:01 / 00:08:45)
2. Henry McMecking – 00:15:04 (00:06:13 / 00:08:50)
3. Gus Marfell – 00:15:13 (00:06:12 / 00:09:01)
4. Robbie White – 00:15:17 (00:06:06 / 00:09:10)
5. Caleb Wagener – 00:15:36 (00:06:10 / 00:09:26)
6. Oliver Larcombe – 00:16:04 (00:06:13 / 00:09:50)
7. Jett Curteis – 00:16:29 (00:06:10 / 00:10:19)
Female
1. Eva Goodisson – 00:16:30 (00:06:51 / 00:09:38)
2. Pheobe Carter – 00:16:44 (00:06:51 / 00:09:52)
3. Brea Roderick – 00:16:54 (00:06:51 / 00:10:03)
4. Charlotte Brown – 00:18:42 (00:06:58 / 00:11:44)
