Taupo, New Zealand, played host to the Oceania Championships over the Olympic distance earlier today as Antipodean rivalries were resumed. Earlier in the year, Australia claimed a triple gold on New Zealand territory and the Napier World Cup and Mixed Team Relay event.
The Oceania Sprint Championships then took place in Devonport, Australia, in March. That day, honours were split as New Zealand won the men’s race and Australia secured the women’s title. In Taupo, the New Zealand team looked to sweep both golds however they were confronted with an Australian team that had the bit between their collective teeth.
Men’s race
Fresh out of the Junior ranks, Brayden Mercer got off to a bright start and led the early stages of the swim. He initially had WTCS gold medallist Matthew Hauser and compatriot Lachlan Jones for company. Over the course of the 1500m, Mercer would maintain his place at the front of the race and would share a field-leading split of 17:53 with Hauser. Tayler Reid then followed right behind.
Hauser and Reid led a small group out of T1. David Martin of the Czech Republic was the lone athlete not from Australia or New Zealand to start and made it into the front pack of six. Another youngster, Jack Crome, likewise was in the mix at the front.
A small group of chasers were only around 10 seconds back. This pack was headed by Brandon Copeland, Saxon Morgan and Oscar Dart and their strength on the bike soon told. The two lead groups soon came together with the next pack on the road 45 seconds back and leaking time.
By T2, the chasers would be over a minute down and their races (from a medal perspective) seemed all but over. Among this group were defending champion Bradley Course, WTCS race winner Jacob Birtwhistle, and Janus Staufenberg.
Dart and Hauser were the first out of T2 and looked strong in the earlier stages of the run. Reid, Copeland and Mercer also tagged along as they distanced themselves from the rest of the lead group. From there, the tempo only rose.
Hauser and Reid pulled away and then Hauser broke clear himself. Meanwhile, Copeland consolidated his virtual bronze medal. A field-leading run split of 31:26 from Birtwhistle vaulted him to 4th place and put Copeland in his sights. In the end, though, he ran out of road.
Up ahead, Hauser cruised to the win, opening his season in style. Reid held on for 2nd place after an impressive all-round performance and Copeland finished 3rd.
Women’s race
A fairly small field started the women’s race in Taupo, although with World Cup and WTCS medallists and Continental Cup winners present there were plenty of stories to follow.
Tara Sosinski, who really announced herself with a crushing Asia Cup victory in 2023, was the quickest swimmer. She completed the 1500m in 20:37, opening a handy 3 second gap to the experienced Natalie Van Coevorden.
Ellie Hoitink and Olivia Thornbury were the next to follow while Ainsley Thorpe, a World Cup medallist, and Jaz Hedgeland, the Oceania Sprint champion, were within touching distance of the lead.
After a slightly fractured first bike lap as the race settled, most of the field came together on the bike. Sosinski and Van Coevorden were safely at the front while the likes of Brea Roderick, an African Cup winner, and Chloe Bateup made up the small gaps they had ceded in the water.
One athlete in the lead group that quietly went about her business was Richelle Hill. The Australian athlete had never raced at the Oceania Championships over the Olympic distance before. Indeed, prior to 2024 (and her comeback at the Oceania Cup in Wanaka), she had not raced internationally since 2019.
When Hoitink and Thorpe took an early charge of the run, it was Hill that found herself next in line and tracking the lead pair.
Sosinski, Roderick and Hedgeland fell away on the run as the leaders pushed onwards. A quartet of Hoitink, Thorpe, Thornbury and Hill remained; with two Australians and two athletes from New Zealand, the regional balance of (triathlon) power hung in the balance alongside the gold.
In the end, it was Hoitink that was the strongest. With an outstanding 10km run, she pulled clear to win by 22 seconds. Hill then made it an Australian 1-2 and earned her first ever Senior international medal. Shortly after, in a fraught sprint for bronze, Thorpe was able to over-power Thornbury by a single second.
For the second time this season, then, the Australian team could leave a major event in New Zealand with both individual golds in their luggage.
You can view the full results here.
