🔥 Hot form and a global triathlon calendar suddenly made fluid by regional conflict have combined to hand Auckland teen Caleb Wagener an unexpected debut at World Triathlon’s top short course level in the early hours of Saturday (NZT).
The 18-year-old will line up alongside Kiwi team-mates Hayden Wilde, Tayler Reid and Saxon Morgan in the men’s race at World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) Abu Dhabi from 1am NZT Saturday, after Brea Roderick and Ainsley Thorpe compete in the earlier women’s sprint from 11pm Friday NZT.
Wagener finished a brilliant 19th in just his second World Triathlon Cup start – the global governing body’s second tier – in Hong Kong last weekend. From there, he had expected to return home and continue his buildup to World Cup Tauranga on Sunday week.
Instead, he headed north to Abu Dhabi to act as Team NZL cover for Saturday’s mixed relay that will follow Friday (UAE time) individual races on Hudayriyat Island, given a change of schedule for Wilde.
Wilde had intended to race the individual and mixed relay in Abu Dhabi until World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) were forced into a change to the T100 schedule due to security concerns in Saudi Arabia.
The change saw T100 Jeddah, originally scheduled for November 27, postponed until April, with the penultimate round of the men’s championship instead relocated to Dubai this Saturday, alongside a women’s T100 already on the calendar.
As a result, Wilde will now race the individual WTCS Abu Dhabi sprint on Friday night (local time/1am Saturday NZT) and then drive the 140km to Dubai for T100 Dubai the following morning (10:03am local time/7pm Saturday NZT), alongside another Kiwi Olympian, Nicole van der Kaay.
As the dominoes fell, Wagener’s stocks rose. First he was added to the waitlist for the individual races and as of early Friday NZT, found himself elevated to the start list.
The world No. 194 is eligible to compete at WTCS level after finishing within three percent of the winner’s time at a World Cup. He achieved that at both his World Cup debut when he finished 35th in Tongyeong, South Korea on October 24 and again last weekend in Hong Kong.
The individual race represents a huge step up in class, but also a brilliant opportunity to gain experience without external expectations, other than the high standards he sets himself.
As an aside, Wagener’s debut at World Triathlon’s top short course level will also be the last under the WTCS moniker. From next year, the WTCS becomes the T50 Triathlon World Tour with Tauranga to host a round in late 2027 and the season Grand Final in 2028. Given the meteoric rise of Wagener, who was 4th at the Junior (U19) World Championships in Spain in September, don’t be surprised if he features in those T50 races on home soil either.
But that is for later. For now, the Auckland City Triathlon Club teen continues his top flight apprenticeship with a bonus start in the UAE capital.
Coverage of the individual women’s and men’s races from Abu Dhabi begin on Triathlonlive.io from 10:45pm Friday and 00:45am Saturday NZT respectively. Also check World Triathlon’s YouTube for possible but unconfirmed coverage.
