Goodisson feeling right at home for Oceania Sprint & Mixed Relay Championships

Save for the odd tropical cyclone, Eva Goodisson is loving her new life on the Gold Coast.

The Havelock North 26-year-old relocated to Queensland just two weeks before the inaugural Oceania Super Sprint Championships in Runaway Bay a year ago where she finished equal top Kiwi in 4th, matching James Corbett’s position in the final men’s shakeup.

She’ll take that result, a full year of acclimatisation on the ‘GC’ and confidence boosting 5th and 4th placings at World Cup Napier and at the continental standard distance champs in Tasmania in mid-March into Saturday’s Super Sprint.

Goodisson has also been buoyed by her selection in the NZL ‘A’ sextet for Sunday’s Oceania Mixed Relay Championships and will hope to force her way into the final quartet with her performances on Saturday.

💬 “The format of 20 minute racing with heats, semis and finals is something we don’t get to race very often so some spicy short stuff is a real treat,” Goodisson told TFS.

“It’s also an honour to be a part of the A relay. I’m excited to get more experience racing the relay as I prefer this format of racing.

“Overall, I’m really looking forward to racing alongside the Oceania girls and it’s a great indicator to where I’m at ahead of the European season.”

Back into it
After struggling through 2024 with a neural back injury, Goodisson’s run progression has been one of the highlights of the Oceania summer thus far. After securing a running scholarship to the University of California, Davis, she’ll no doubt feel right at home on the Gold Coast Performance Centre track and is likewise looking forward to the return to the “technical, challenging and fun” Runaway Bay bike course too.

Indeed, the GC lifestyle absolutely agrees with the World No.50, who is sandwiched at No.2 in the latest continental rankings between Kiwi teammates Nicole van der Kaay and Ainsley Thorpe.

“I live in Mermaid Waters which is in between Burleigh and Southport. It’s right next to Miami Pool and the epic swim squad I’m there with. 

“Training here has been awesome. I’m a real social trainer so I love the swim and run squads here and all the girls to train with. Add the warm weather, cafes and beaches… It couldn’t get any better.” 

The one asterisk was Cyclone Alfred which wreaked havoc on the Gold Coast last month.  

“That was pretty crazy. Almost like Covid where everything was shut except you couldn’t even go outside,” Goodisson said.

“I actually relocated to Burleigh for five days since our place got damaged in the floods here a year ago so didn’t want to risk it. We lost power for a couple days but honestly it was just one of those times where you just did what you needed to do and it wasn’t going to last forever – just lots of indoor bike trainers, at home yoga and Monopoly deal!”