The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Schools Individual Triathlon Championships took place at the Mighty River Domain at Karapiro Wednesday, 11 March.

St Paul’s was represented by five students: in the U19s by Oliver Larcombe; in the U16s by Toby Finlayson, Ben Haskell and Nikita Coleman and in the U14s by Dylan Gardiner. The U14 age group race consisted of a 250 metre swim, a 12km bike leg and a 3.2 km run. The U16s and the U19s competed over a course which consisted of a 500m swim; a 15km bike leg and a 4.8km run.

In an amazing finish, Oliver finished first equal in the U19 race. In the U16 race, St Paul’s gained a gold and a silver medal thanks to the respective efforts of Toby Finlayson and Ben Haskell. Nikita Coleman placed third in the U16 Girls race. Dylan Gardiner also placed third in the U14 boys race.

Competitors take about one hour to finish their races, so this is a very demanding event requiring a high standard of technical expertise and endurance in order to be competitive across the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. Well done to all competitors on achieving these outstanding results and thank you to Mr Robert Aldridge for his support for our athletes and for accompanying them to their various events throughout the term.