Caleb Wagener produced Team NZL’s sole medal at the 2026 Oceania Triathlon Championships in Devonport but wasn’t the only flying Kiwi in Tasmania.
The 18-year-old Aucklander claimed bronze in the Junior (U19) championship, finishing just 24 seconds down on Aussie winner Zahn Spies and eight seconds adrift of silver medallist Kyle Mason in the 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run sprint.
Wagener, the reigning World Triathlon Junior Duathlon champion from Pontevedra, returned on Sunday with the standout leg as the New Zealand 1 team took the silver in the Junior Mixed Relay.
The quartet of Indie Williams, Wagener, Charlotte Chiles and Connor Kemp crossed the line 4th behind Australia I, II and III but with a nation only able to claim one medal, the silver rolled down to the 4th placed Kiwi I selection.
Williams and Kemp did their World Junior Championship hopes no harm with strong performances in the deep Junior fields. Wellingtonian Kemp, now training out of Tauranga under Craig Kirkwood, was 5th, just 23 seconds behind Wagener, while Williams was 7th, 1min 48sec down on Aussie winner Addison Houslip.
In the elite standard distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run) races, Saxon Morgan’s 5th place in the elite men’s field was the standout, especially as the Cantab had tweaked a calf muscle two days beforehand.
Fellow Cantabrian Henry McMecking didn’t have the swim he wanted but still finished next best of the Kiwis, 9th in the elite field and just off the podium in 4th in the concurrently run U23 race.
Will Taylor, now training in Sydney with fellow Kiwi Joel Lange and the Aussie Schofield twins Luke and Jayden, produced arguably his best result in the black tri suit, 11th in the elite field and 6th in the U23s.
Amara Rae was the leading Kiwi in the women’s elite race in 9th, a place ahead of Phoebe Carter who marked her standard distance debut with a performance that also saw her 6th in the U23 race.
Robbie White was a notable DNF due to a bike mechanical. The Cantab had crashed on a training ride on Thursday testing the Devonport course’s imposing hill. Despite a new cassette, chain and a mechanical WOF, the bike frustratingly played up on race day.
Next up for the Kiwis is the Oceania Super Sprint Championships which again return to Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast on April 18-19. A number are also expected to compete in an Oceania Cup sprint incorporated into the Luke Harrop Memorial / Gold Coast Triathlon on April 12.
📷 Taylah Melki / AusTriathlon
2026 Oceania Triathlon Championships Devonport
Elite Women
🥇 Tara Sosinski (AUS) – 2:05:45
🥈 Zoe Clarke (AUS) – 2:08:25
🥉 Ellie Hoitink (AUS) – 2:09:00
Also NZL
9. Amara Rae (NZL) – 2:14:25
10. Phoebe Carter (NZL) – 2:14:56
Lap. Lucy Evans (NZL)
U23 Women
🥇 Tara Sosinski (AUS) – 2:05:45
🥈 Aspen Anderson (AUS) – 2:09:27
🥉 Isla Watson (AUS) – 2:09:49
Also NZL
6. Phoebe Carter (NZL) – 2:14:56
Lap. Lucy Evans (NZL)
Junior (U19)
🥇 Addison Houslip (AUS) – 1:03:30
🥈 Piper Anderson (AUS) – 1:03:56
🥉 Hannah Pollock (AUS) – 1:04:25
Also NZL
7. Indie Williams (NZL) – 1:05:18
12. Charlotte Chiles (NZL) – 1:06:09
15. Sophie Webber (NZL) – 1:06:33
16. Sophie Lampe (NZL) – 1:08:39
20. Mila Laarakkers (NZL) – 1:10:08
26. Melanie Button (NZL) – 1:15:58
Elite Men
🥇 Luke Willian (AUS) – 1:50:23
🥈 Callum McClusky (AUS) – 1:51:32
🥉 Brandon Copeland (AUS) – 1:51:51
Also NZL
5. Saxon Morgan (NZL) – 1:52:14
9. Henry McMecking (NZL) – 1:53:11
11. William Taylor (NZL) – 1:53:58
14. Ivan Abele (NZL) – 1:55:14
15. Joel Lange (NZL) – 1:56:03
20. Grayson Westgate (NZL) – 1:56:27
23. Gus Marfell (NZL) – 2:00:51
26. Luke Kuggeleijn (NZL) – 2:03:43
DNF. Benjamin Airey (NZL)
DNF. Robbie White (NZL)
Lap. Jett Curteis (NZL)
U23 Men
🥇 Oscar Wootton (AUS) – 1:51:58
🥈 Toby Powers (AUS) – 1:52:31
🥉 Logan Campbell (AUS) – 1:52:44
Also NZL
4. Henry McMecking (NZL) – 1:53:11
6. William Taylor (NZL) – 1:53:58
8. Ivan Abele (NZL) – 1:55:14
11. Grayson Westgate (NZL) – 1:56:27
13. Gus Marfell (NZL) – 2:00:51
15. Luke Kuggeleijn (NZL) – 2:03:43
DNF. Robbie White (NZL)
DNF. Benjamin Airey (NZL)
Lap. Jett Curteis (NZL)
Junior (U19)
🥇 Zahn Spies (AUS) – 55:55
🥈 Kyle Mason (AUS) – 56:11
🥉 Caleb Wagener (NZL) – 56:19
Also NZL
5. Connor Kemp (NZL) – 56:42
7. Theo Bray (NZL) – 57:14
15. Oliver Barnett (NZL) – 58:36
20. Alec Ball (NZL) – 59:16
36. Xavier Christie (NZL) – 1:00:56
42. Ruie Hyslop (NZL) – 1:01:36
44. Oliver Christie (NZL) – 1:01:50
48. Matthew Moore (NZL) – 1:03:26
52. Jackson Pinoque (NZL) – 1:04:17
60. Yahav Wiezel (NZL) – 1:07:24
DNF: Olli Aitken (NZL)
Oceania Junior Mixed Relay Championship
🥇 Australia I
2. Australia II
3. Australia III
Also NZL
🥈 4. New Zealand I (Williams, Wagener, Chiles, Kemp)
5. New Zealand II (Webber, Bray, Lampe, Barnett)
DNF. New Zealand III (Button, X. Christie, Laarakkers, Ball)
