The Oceania Championships will take place in Taupo, New Zealand, this weekend and a star-studded field is due to compete for regional supremacy. The event will be the second of the five standard distance continental championships of 2024 and is shaping up to be incredibly tight.
Men’s race
Last year’s shock winner Bradley Course (AUS) is back to defend his title. Course achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Oceania junior, U23 and senior titles all in the same season in 2023. In doing so, he earned the uncommon right to start at both the Junior World Championships and the U23 World Championships. Now a year older, he will wear the number 1 in Taupo.
Should Course triumph again this season, he will have to do it the hard way. WTCS race winner Matthew Hauser (AUS) will be making his first start of the season and will be a formidable opponent. The fastest swimmer at last year’s WTCS Final in Pontevedra, Hauser will likely press his advantage in the first discipline.
The Australian team will also be represented by Brandon Copeland, Oscar Dart and Luke Bate. Former WTCS gold medallist Jacob Birtwhistle will be another to watch from the Australian team. He took the bronze medal at the Oceania Championships over the sprint distance earlier in the season and is the only male medallist from that event slated to start in Taupo.
As things stand, the second Australian male Olympic slot remains up in the air (Hauser locked in his place in Pontevedra). An eye-catching performance this weekend could therefore set one of those racing on the path to Paris.
From the home New Zealand team, Tayler Reid will have the dual objectives of claiming continental gold and furthering his own Olympic ambitions. He is currently locked in a fight to join Hayden Wilde on the New Zealand Olympic team.
Saxon Morgan and Janus Staufenberg will be two further men to watch from the home team. In addition, Benjamin Airey (NZL) will look to attempt a similar result to Course and add a senior continental medal to his recent bronze from the Oceania Junior Championships.
Women’s race
In the women’s race, Jaz Hedgeland (AUS) will be the provisional favourite after winning the Oceania title over the sprint distance in March. She will wear number 1 this weekend. Her fellow medallists, Brea Roderick (NZL) and Tara Sosinski (AUS), will also be racing and so she will not have things all her own way. As the Oceania champion from 2021, though, Hedgeland has plenty of pedigree at the event.
Roderick will be joined by World Cup medallist Ainsley Thorpe (NZL) on the home team who will no doubt be a contender for the podium. Meanwhile, Sosinksi will start alongside the experienced Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS). Having made WTCS and World Cup podiums previously, Van Coevorden will fancy her chances of breaking into the medals in Taupo.
Furthermore, Van Coevorden will look to nail a place on the Australian Olympic team after missing out in Tokyo. Neither of the Australian berths have been officially claimed. As a result, the likes of Hedgeland, Van Coevorden, Sosinski and more will treat the Oceania Championships as a valuable chance to showcase their abilities.
A dramatic pair of races could therefore await in Taupo. Stay up to date with all the latest from Oceania across World Triathlon channels this weekend.
