Olympians in Challenge Wanaka Triathlon Showcase

Integrity Homes Challenge Wanaka has announced six Olympians will race alongside their High Performance teammates at the Design Windows Twilight Challenge in Wānaka township on Friday 18 February at the Wanaka Showcase. Olympic bronze medalist, Hayden Wilde, and his fellow Tokyo teammates Nicole van der Kaay, Ainsley Thorpe, Tayler Reid have confirmed their attendance, as has Simone Ackermann, who raced for South Africa in Tokyo and Beijing, London and Rio Olympian Andrea Hewitt, will be joining them.

The Design Windows Twilight race is the final race of the Triathlon NZ Suzuki NZ Elite series, which will see Aotearoa’s finest elite triathletes fight it out for the overall win, prizes and the glory of claiming this pinnacle series, as they head into the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 selection period.

From the High Performance team and the National and Development squads from across New Zealand, the race will have 20 males and 10 females lining up and will be returning to the streets of Wānaka to bring a real buzz of triathlon back.

“We are very excited to bring racing back into the centre of town on a Friday night. We expect to see crowds come along to watch, cheer and spend some time down in our local bars and restaurants along the race course,” says Tony Dodds, Integrity Homes Challenge Wanaka Showcase Manager. “The elite athletes will have a 750m swim, 15km bike course through town and a 5km run along the lakefront to the finish along in front of the local businesses. The racing will start at 5:30pm with the women’s race and 7pm for the men. We hope you can bring the family down to watch the best in kiwi triathlon.”