Kat Matthews wants a third straight Ironman Pro Series title and a season opening win would help that bid no end. Regan Hollioake wants to defend the Anzco Foods Ironman New Zealand crown she earned on these very roads twelve months ago.
Both women have spent their off-season quietly rebuilding, recalibrating, and arrive in Taupō more settled and self-assured than ever.
For both, Saturday is not the final destination. It’s the first move toward Kona. But someone still has to cross the line first.
New Zealand’s own Hannah Berry, the 2021 winner here, will want to have a say in that in a women’s field that shapes as one of the deepest in the event’s now 42 year history.
Kat Matthews: Unfinished Business
Kat Matthews doesn’t do things by halves. The Brit skipped a UK winter — “pretty miserable,” by her own assessment — decamped to Noosa for a pre-race training camp, and arrives in Taupō acclimatised, sharp, and hungry. Back-to-back IM Pro Series titles sit in the trophy cabinet. A third would keep her name as the only won on the trophy.
But it’s not what keeps her up at night.
“The Ironman World Championship is my focus, but I am deeply motivated to retain the Pro Series title,” said Matthews.
Three runner-up finishes at Kona. That’s the number that defines her career so far, and the one she most wants to change. Saturday’s result feeds directly into that mission. Win here, bank 5,000 Pro Series points, secure early Kona qualification, and free herself to build toward October unburdened.
RELATED: The Full Send’s Ironman NZ Special
• Mike Phillips, Taupo’s fastest man, meets a GOAT
• Berry returns with Pro Series focus for 2026
• Comeback kid Smith fizzing for return in the town that built him
• ‘Big Blu’ has done his Taupo homework
The preparation has been deliberately different this year. Matthews and her husband Mark have taken full ownership of her training programme, a shift she’s embracing fully.
“My husband Mark and I are now taking total ownership over all my training programmes, and we are both loving the flexibility of this and so far. We are communicating really well,” she said.
“Loosely I’d say in Jan and Feb I am doing less volume to last year and loading the threshold zone more across the bike and run. We will of course periodise through the year towards the primary focus of the Ironman World Championship in Kona.”
The Noosa camp, meanwhile, served a purpose beyond fitness.
“Coming over to Oceania well ahead of Ironman New Zealand allows me to feel totally in-line with the time zone shift. I often find big travel hits my hormonal stability and the sleep disturbance coincides with my mood, gut health and general tolerance for positivity,” she said.
“The training block in Noosa has gone exactly to plan, super smooth and with the added bonus of great company and really relaxed fun atmosphere.”
Matthews finished runner-up at the 2024 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Taupō so knows the roads well. She arrives knowing exactly what she wants. The hattrick is the headline. Kona is the obsession.
Regan Hollioake: The Number She’ll Keep Forever
Regan Hollioake lines up on Saturday wearing the number one bib — and she’s not taking it lightly.
“Wearing number one is such a privilege,” the 36-year-old Australian says.
“It’s what we all dream of when we start this sport, winning and returning to defend titles. It’s what we are all here for. I’m so thankful I’ve been able to return to Taupō and given the opportunity to wear the No.1 all day. This will be one bib number that I keep for good.”
Hollioake had a long 2025 — IMNZ victory in March, sixth in the Pro Series overall, and two World Championship races bookending the year in Kona and Marbella.
By the end of it, she needed a real break. This time, she took one properly.
“I had an excellent off season break post Marbella that allowed me a full mental and physical reset needed after a long and busy season. In the past, I’ve been impatient in returning to training a little early, so I was more conscious this time of taking my time to sensibly get back into it,” she said.
The result is an athlete who sounds grounded, refreshed, and clear-eyed about what matters.
“I’ve been loving being at home, training through an Aussie summer and having some really solid routines in place that has made the start to the season very enjoyable for me.”
Taupō, she says, does something to athletes that few other races can.
“The race is steeped in history, the town is something special, the course is beautiful, and the support is like no other. Every time I’ve raced in Taupō it has felt like a championship race with the buzz and the on the ground support.
“We as athletes really redrive energy from the environment and the crowd and this one is always pumping. It’s also a hard but fair course where nothing is for free and there’s no room for mistakes. I love the challenge of a race day like this.”
And like Matthews, Hollioake’s gaze ultimately extends beyond Saturday.
“All roads lead to Kona so that is my main priority,” she said.
“It would be ideal to grab a World Championship slot at the first race of the season, which to do so would have to be a solid result in itself. Lots to fight for come race day.”
Competition for podium places in Taupo runs deep beyond Matthews, Hollioake and Berry.
Two-time champion Jocelyn McCauley (USA) is always a threat in Taupō, athletes like Lotte Wilms (NLD), Rebecca Clarke (NZL), and Fenella Langridge (GBR) will hope to push the pace in the swim to get a gap on those behind them, while strong runners in the shape of Danielle Lewis (USA) and Tamara Jewett (CAN) will do their best to blitz through the field on the marathon.
You can follow the Pro women’s and men’s races live from 7:15am Saturday via the IRONMAN Pro Series website and/or IRONMAN YouTube channel.
2026 ANZCO Foods Ironman New Zealand
Women’s Professional Field
F1 – Regan Hollioake (AUS)
F2 – Kat Matthews (GBR)
F3 – Hannah Berry (NZL)
F4 – Jocelyn McCauley (USA)
F5 – Lotte Wilms (NLD)
F6 – Maja Stage Nielsen (DNK)
F7 – Danielle Lewis (USA)
F8 – Nina Derron (CHE)
F9 – Gabrielle Lumkes (USA)
F10 – Rebecca Clarke (NZL)
F11 – Steph Clutterbuck (GBR)
F12 – Tamara Jewett (CAN)
F14 – Fenella Langridge (GBR)
F15 – Chloe Lane (AUS)
F16 – Alexia Bailly (FRA)
F17 – Hannah Knighton (NZL)
F18 – Rhianne Hughes (GBR)
F19 – Line Bonde (DNK)
F20 – Katie Treston-Torney (USA)
F21 – Mizuki Hirayanagi (JPN)
