A Columba College Year 12 student travelled to Tauranga last week to participate in the NZSS Triathlon Championships, and we are delighted to report that this wonderfully dedicated, hard working and diligent athlete achieved some amazing goals!

On Thursday 21 March 2024, Year 12 student Melanie competed in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Triathlon Championships held in Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty. With the event being scheduled for the North Island this year, Melanie had to fly, taking her bicycle with her, which was a new experience all in itself! Melanie quickly learnt the art of packaging up her bicycle carefully to make sure it would not get damaged in transit - the joys of being a high performing sports person! 

On the morning of Thursday 21st, Melanie competed in the U19 individual race of the NZSS Triathlon Champs. Melanie's aim going into the race was to make a top 8 finish. The event consisted of a 750m swim, a 20km bike, followed by a 5km run. Melanie completed a strong swim to start the race, coming out of the water in the top half of the field of competitors. She followed this up with a solid bike leg and strong run which ultimately led to Melanie finishing in 5th position for the U19 division! What a great outcome! As reported by Melanie herself, she is "really happy with this result as the field in the North Island was extremely competitive and I have another year left to compete in this age group so can’t wait to improve on it next year"! Congratulations Melanie!

On Friday 22nd, Melanie also competed in a mixed team relay race which is where two boys and two girls all do a mini-triathlon which consists of a 200m swim, 5km bike and a 1km run. With the distances in the mixed team relay being so short it produces some extremely fast, fierce and fun racing. All members of Melanie's team had a really strong race resulting in a 4th place finish overall, which was fantastic, especially after completing tough individual races the day before. Well done Melanie. We are extremely proud of your efforts and wish you all the best of luck in achieving your Triathlon goals in the future!