THE HISTORY OF THE HAWKE’S BAY MULTISPORTS CLUB CONTINUED – 2006 ONWARDS

To gain an understanding of the full history of readers of this report should refer to “21 Years and still Tri-ing, A History of the Hawke’s Bay Multisports Club – 1986-2007”to learn about the first twenty-one and formative years of this iconic New Zealand triathlon club.  (refer https://www.trihb.kiwi/)

For a list of club presidents, treasurers, events/general managers, life members and for a detailed history of Hawke’s Bay and Triathlon New Zealand Awards won, readers are asked to refer to the honours board on the website:  https://www.trihb.kiwi/About-Us/honours-board-1

2006

Back in 2005 the club decided to use its positioning and influence to support a charity.  Long-time club member, Ann Robottom’s daughter, Kimberley, had cystic fibrosis so the Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand became a natural fit as the club charity.  By 2007, the annual Corporate Duathlon, with the generous sponsorship support of Harvey’s Real Estate, had raised over the past three years, $12,500 for Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand.

With the excellent services provided by the now full time General Manager, Jeanette Cooper, the club had 5,422 athletes participate in its events for the 2006/07 year, a whopping 46% increase over the previous year, its reach having become far and wide.  Thirty events were organised by the club, six more than in the 2005-06 season.

Triathlon New Zealand recognised the club’s capacity as an excellent organiser of events and awarded a Contact Energy National Series event to Hawke’s Bay.  The club hosted both a National Cup race and a Tri My Sport race.

At the Olympic Distance National Championships three members achieved first placing (Naomi Edwards – Female 25-29; Julie Boshier – Female 60-64; Barry Payne – Male 60-64) with third placings by Ian Clark – Male 18-19 and Sherry Majors.  With regard to placings in the Triathlon New Zealand Contact Energy Points Cup Sherry Majors and Julie Boshier achieved first placings, Tim Jardine (Male 40-44) achieved a second placing and Sandra Kapperley (Female 55-59); Guy Nelson (Male 35-39) and Barry Payne (Male 60-64) achieved a third placing.

Five club members attended the 2006 world champs in Lucerne, Switzerland.  They were: Ian Clark, Tim Jardine, Callum Millward, James Dever, and Brent Jones.  Naomi Edwards, Guy Nelson and Jessica Morrison were selected but did not attend.

Two club members were selected for the 2007 long course championships to be held in July in Lorient, France.  They were Geoff Martin and Ann Robottom, with Ann attending the event.

Six club members qualified for the 2007 world championships in Hamburg, Germany.  They were: Ian Clarke, Naomi Edwards, Jessica Morrison, Guy Nelson, Tim Jardine, Barry Payne, with Barry taking up the offer and attending the championships in September.

The club achieved the ‘Club Operation of the Year’ prize at the 2006 Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards.  This is a remarkable achievement for such a small club.  An award for which every club member can congratulate themselves. 

The club also achieved the ‘Club Mark’ status with Sport Hawke’s Bay.  This is a health check audit process that the committee went through with Sport Hawke’s Bay that assessed its operations against best practice.  It meant that the club could better leverage off that quality assured status in its dealings with sponsors and funding agencies.

2006/07 was the second year as Jeanette Cooper in the Development Manager role.  She had done a superb job stepping up from part time to being the club’s full time development manager.  Club membership numbers are up participation had increased, more events had been run, sponsors are satisfied, over fifty media articles have been achieved and an immense number of behind the scenes systems, processes and databases were created and maintained as the club moved into a new era of full time professional operational management.  At this point the Hawke’s Bay Multisports Club was the only triathlon club in New Zealand with a full-time employee and a key reason for achieving the award mentioned above and quality accreditation associated with ‘Club Mark’.

2007

With events growing and needing more equipment, the club purchased a second equipment trailer during the year.  It also won the ‘Club Operation of the Year’ award for the second year running.

In the fourth year of the Harveys Corporate Duathlon the club had now raised $16,500 for the Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand. The sponsorship of Harvey’s Corporate Duathlon reverted to Paul Harvey, the original sponsor of this event, with his new firm of Williams Harvey, Registered Valuers.

Callum Millward achieved a tenth placing in the elite section of Oceania Champs, (he was the 6th kiwi home), and he achieved a 5th in the elite section of national sprint champs, up against the big boys of Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmel.  Callum would go on to race at the elite level for a number of years qualifying for Ironman Kona as a professional three times and achieved fifteen 70.3 podiums.  Later he teamed up with his wife, Alise Selsmark and established the Cupcake Cartel coaching group, named after Callum’s famous humorous ‘cupcake’ interviews with colleague professionals.

The club shone at the National Champs gaining two Gold medals Naomi Fergusson (Female 25-29; Ann Robottom (Female 45-49), a silver to Anna Fuhrer (Female 18-19) and six other top ten places.

Continuing at a National Level, in the Contact Energy Cup Series the Club managed three first places (Anna Fuhrer – Female 18-19; Ian Clark – Male 18-19 and Naomi Fergusson – Female 25-29), one second place (Ann Robottom – Female 45-49) and three third places (James Bell – Male 40-44; Tim Jardine – Male 45-49 and Barry Payne – Male 60-64).

Eight members were selected for the Standard Course World Triathlon Champs in Vancouver, Canada that year.  They were: Anna Fuhrer, Naomi Fergusson, Lisa Birkett, Ian Clark, James Bell, Ann Robottom, Barry Payne and Tim Jardine.  All attended the event except Lisa Birkett with Naomi Fergusson coming fourth in her age group.

Three members were also selected for the Sprint Course World Triathlon Champs in Vancouver Canada.  They were: Ian Clark, Naomi Fergusson and Ann Robottom.  Ian attended this event and achieved a silver medal.

Four members, Geoff Martin, James Dever, Tim Jardine and Carl Fraser were selected to attend the World Long Distance Triathlon Champs in the Netherlands that year.  Both Geoff Martin and James Dever attended with Geoff coming 15th in his age group and James 16th.  A standing joke about the Dutch organising committee was that the supposed to be 3.8km swim that turned out to be about 5km long.  Ironically, Geoff and James came out of the water at the same time, as they have done over three previous in iron distance races!

Also this year an amazing 18 club members did Ironman, many of them were first timers.  James Dever was the fastest club member and just one away on the roll down from qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona.

In her third year in the Development Manager role Jeanette Cooper excelled.  She experimented with integrating children into volunteering roles at events.  That was an outstanding success with a ‘Kids Krew’ of 39 children established in this, the first year.  The children of participants fulfilled safe and useful roles at events.  She had two Channel 51 television appearances and Triathlon New Zealand has also requested that she assist other triathlon clubs in New Zealand to build the sport of triathlon in their area.  Her outstanding skills as an administrator meant she got to be a finalist for the Hawke’s Bay sports awards for ‘Administrator of the Year’.

2008

The growth in membership and participation started to level off, after four years of significant growth.  Compared with 2005 the club had achieved 41% growth in participation.

The club won the Hawke’s Bay ‘club operation’ of the year award for the third year in a row.  However, the awards highlight was nationally when Triathlon New Zealand inaugurated their awards system.  The club was recognised for its contribution to the sport by being voted ‘Club of the Year’ at the inaugural 2009 TriNZ awards (recognising performance over the previous season).  The club also won ‘Family of the Year’ (the Fuhrer family of three that participated from Weetbix to Ironkids to Shed 2s, NZ Secondary School Champs to Contact Cup to World Champs), ‘Coach of the Year’ (Tim Jardine whose charges achieved two golds and a silver at national championships; seven podiums at Contact Points Trophy championships and two golds at World Championships) and ‘Volunteer of the Year’ (Geoff Martin by volunteering at 18 Club events, Taupo Half and Full Ironman, is a level 1 coach and a level 1 technical official) at these awards.

Results from national championships were as follows.

The club achieved three top three placings at the national sprint championships (Silver to Glen Yule – Male 45-39 and Bronze to both Julie Boshier – Female 60-64 and Barry Payne – Male 60-64).  Six club members qualified for the New Zealand Sprint Age Group team that year.

At the National Olympic Distance Champs two golds were achieved by Simone Morris – Female 35-39, and Barry Payne – Male 60-64 one silver to Mark Riddell – Male 50-54 and one bronze to Lisa Birkett – Female 35-39.  With fifteen qualifications into the World Olympic Distance World Championships.

At the National Long Distance Championships two golds were achieved going to Annika Edmondson – Female 20-24 and Cindy Taylor – Female 50-54 with eleven club members qualifying for the World long course championships.

It was a year of achievement at the New Zealand long course championships with four gold placings to Annika Edmonson – Female 20-24; Ali Hollington – Female 40-44; Sandra Kapperley – Female 55-59 and James Dever – Male 45-59 with James Bell – Male 40-44 qualifying for the world championships.  Of the twenty four club participants the club achieved sixteen top ten placings.

Twenty four members finished Ironman New Zealand with three (Ali Hollington, John Moriarty and Ann Robottom) qualifying for Kona.

In the Contact Trophy Points Cup four first placings were achieved by Hayley Davis – Female 25-29; Lisa Birkett – Female 35-39; Glen Yule – Male 45-49 and Barry Payne – Male 60-64.

Not only did members achieved on the national stage that year, to top off a season that just kept on getting better and better the Hawke’s Bay Multisport Club won the Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards ‘Club Operations Category’ for the third year in a row.

Volunteers remain the heart of this club.  During the year 131 volunteers assisted at an event. This represented 43% of club members. 87 of those volunteers assisted at three or more events.

The Development Manager, Jeanette Cooper, organised the first ever Primary Schools Triathlon Championships for teams and individuals was held with 455 children attending.  She also was a finalist for the ‘Administrator of the Year’ once again.

2009

The Harveys Corporate Duathlon by now had raised $20,800 for Cystic Fibrosis over the past five years.  Also, this year the club made a special effort to raise funds for cystic fibrosis for Ann Robottom’s daughter so she could enjoy an around the world trip.  At short notice $16,000 was raised.

The 2009/10 year was an impressive year of athletic achievement.

At the National Duathlon Championships Annika Edmondson (Female 20-24) placed third.

The club achieved nine top three placings at the National Sprint Championships with eleven qualifications for the World Championships.  The top three place getters were gold medal placings for: Barry Payne (Male 60-64); Nikki Powell (Female 18-19); Lisa Birkett (Female 35-39) and Julie Boshier (Female 60-64).  Silver medal winners were: Karen Moore (Female 30-34); Mark Riddell (Male 50-54 and Ben Walters (Male 30-34).  Bronze medal winners were Michele Walters (Female 35-39) and Sandra Shand (Female 55-59).

Four podium placings were achieved at the National Olympic Distance Champs held in Wellington with gold for Naomi Fergusson (Female 30-34). Julie Boshier (Female 60-64) and Barry Payne (Male 60-64) and silver for Sandra Kappley (Female 60-64) with six world championship qualifiers.

At the Tauranga long distance championships Cindy Taylor (Female 50-54) achieved gold and seven club members qualified for the New Zealand team.  Taupo also held a New Zealand team qualifier for the world long course championships with two more club members qualifying.

A massive thirty club members trained for and entered Ironman Taupo with two silver placings achieved by Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) and John Moriarty (Male 55-59) which qualified them for the world championships in Kona later that year.

Triathlon New Zealand were still running the Contact Energy Points Trophy and the club achieved one first placing (Tim Jardine – Male 45-49), one second placing (Hayley Davis – Female 25-29) and a third placing for Anna Fuhrer (Female 20-24).

The world championships in 2010 was held at the accessible Gold Coast in Australia.  Fifteen members attended, twelve in the Olympic Distance and three in the Sprint Distance.  Cindy Taylor (Female 50-54) achieved a world silver medal.

But Annika Edmondson trumped that achievement at the World long course championships held in Perth, Australia by achieving gold in her 20-24 age group.  She won club ‘Performance of the Year’ for this achievement.  Six other club members attended this event.

Bridget Keegan also cracked a world gold medal at the Xterra world championships held in Maui, Hawaii in her 25-29 age group.

Emma Mackie did attend the world duathlon championships at Concorde, USA and was pipped for bronze with a creditable fourth placing on the 20-24 age group.

The club had another very successful year at the Triathlon New Zealand awards winning three categories.  Brent Hussey was named Volunteer of the Year for volunteering at 16 club events and six Triathlon New Zealand events, being a level one technical official and volunteering at one overseas ITU event.  Adding to this achievement the Hussey Family received a ‘special commendation’ for Family of the Year for both Brent and Gail volunteering at Hawke’s Bay Multisports Club events and Triathlon New Zealand events, both being technical officials and their children being members of the Kids Krew.  The club won the ‘Club of the Year’ prize for a 161% increase in membership in 5 yrs; 44% increase in participation over five years; half the members volunteering (157) and 97% membership satisfaction over three years.

Not only did members achieved on the national stage that year, to top off a season that just kept on getting better and better the Hawke’s Bay Multisport Club won the Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards ‘Club Operations’ category for the fourth year in a row.

Jeanette Cooper won ‘Administrator of the Year at these prestigious Hawke’s Bay awards.  The club achieved finalists for the ‘Club Performance of the Year, ‘Official of the Year’ (Brent Hussey) and ‘Masters Sportsperson of the Year’ (Ali Hollington).

Volunteers, who are the heart of the club, continue to provide their services unselfishly.  157 volunteers assisted at an event, a 20% increase over the previous year.  This represented 52% of members.  The Kids Krew grew to 42 children.

Jeanette Cooper served the club with absolute dedication and commitment and finally her winning of the Hawke’s Bay Sports Administrator of the Year a deserved award as she retired from the role and moved into a leadership position in Sport Hawke’s Bay.  Jeanette set the standards for club general and event management those future general managers followed and built on.

2010

The 2010/11 season was the final year for Fred Koenders as President, the club’s longest serving president, for seven years.  He led the club into the era of full time paid professional general managers.  Later he was honoured as a life member.

The year ended with the club winning the Hawke’s Bay ‘Club Performance of the Year’ award for the first time for placings in domestic and international events.  Ali Hollington winning Senior Sportsperson of the Year for being the world long course distance champion, 4th placing at Ironman Kona, 1st placing at the British Middle Distance Championships a second placing in her age group in Kona.  The club was a finalist for the ‘Club Operation the Year’.

Brent and Gail Hussey deservedly won the Triathlon New Zealand ‘Technical Official of the Year’, a proud achievement for a modest family.  They officiated at 9 national events; officiated at 16 club events; officiated at one international event (Sydney); and were a Level two TriNZ technical official and Level One ITU technical official.

In terms of athlete performance 24 club members qualified for World Championship events in 2010 but because of distance and timing few were able to attend those events.  However, for those that did attend, one gold medal was achieved and one fourth and one fifth placing was achieved.   Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) won gold at the World Long Course Championships, held in Immenstadt, Germany.  Ali was also the fourth overall age grouper home and second overall in the New Zealand Team, men and women.  Ali achieved a fourth placing at the World Ironman Championships, in Kona and Ben Walters (Male 30-34) achieved a fifth placing at the World Sprint Distance Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.  Sixteen club members did qualify for various 2011 World Championship events

Domestically, in national championship events, the club achieved five gold medals, six silvers and four bronze medals, on top of 20 top ten placings.  The details follow.

At the Sprint Distance Championships Naomi Fergusson (Female 30-34), Cindy Taylor (Female 50-54) and Julie Boshier (Female 65-69) won gold.  Judy Shephard (Female 45-49); Barry Payne (Male 60-64) and Sandra Kappely (Female 60-64) won silver.  Ben Bibby (Male 17-19); Ken Maclaren (Male 50-54); Brett Mudgeway (Male 55-59) and Sherry Majors (Female 55-59) all won bronze.

At the Olympic Distance Championships held again in Wellington, Pearson Williams (Male 16-17) and Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) both won gold.  Naomi Fergusson (Female 30-34) and Julie Boshier (Female 65-69) won sliver.

The Long-Distance Championships held in Tauranga saw 24 member attend with both Lucy Williams (Female 35-39) and Sandra Kappely (Female 60-64) achieve silver placings.

Twenty club members finished Ironman on 5 March with Brett Mudgeway qualifying for the world championships with a second placing in his age group.

In the Contact Energy Points Cup, seven podiums were achieved.  Julie Boshier (Female 65-69) won gold.  Sandra Kappley (Female 60-64); Ken Maclaren (Male 50-54) and Jeremy Natusch (Male 30-34) all won silver.  Sherry Majors (Female 55-59); Geoff Martin (Male 55-59) and Ben Bibby (Male 18-19) won bronze.

By now the Harveys Corporate Duathlon raised $21,805 for Cystic Fibrosis over the past six years.  $336 was also raised for the Christchurch Triathlon Club as a gesture to support their earthquake relief.

The club opened its first Facebook page during the year that started with 223 fans.

A wetsuit fitting and renting service was provided by committee member, Vicki Fuhrer, with the wetsuits provided second hand by club sponsor, Blue Seventy. This popular service generated more revenue than planned.

A new structured coaching service was initiated, provided led by Ken Maclaren and supported by Gillie Cooper, Shane Harrison and Geoff Martin. Winter swim sessions were offered at Onekawa pool.  Summer open water and run sessions complemented the services provided.

The year started with Nick Crocker in the Development Manager role, but he resigned in December 2010. The committee was very grateful for Jeanette Cooper stepping back into the role until replacement Development Manager, Brendon Lodge was recruited in February 2011.

2011

2011 was the final year of the Harveys Corporate Duathlon having raised $21,805 for Cystic Fibrosis over the past seven years.  A further $971 was raised for the Christchurch Relief Fund following the earthquakes there.

The Sprint Distance Championships saw 20 club members attended with Brett Mudgeway (Male 55-59) achieving silver and Annika Edmondson (Female 25-29) achieving bronze placings.

The Olympic Distance Championships held in Wellington saw 23 members travel.  Two golds were won by Murray O’Donnell (Male 65-69) and Naomi Fergusson (Female 30-34) with Julie Boshier (Female 65-69) won silver.

At the Long Distance Championships held in Tauranga Daniel Begley (Male 20-24) won gold: John Moriarty (Male 55-59) won silver and both Sherry Majors (Female 55-59) and Geoff Martin (Male 60-64) won bronze.

Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) won gold at Ironman Taupo and Brett Mudgeway (Male 55-59) won silver, both qualifying for Kona.

In the Contact Energy Points Cup eight club members podiumed.  Naomi Fergusson (Female 30-34); Sherry Majors (Female 55-59), Devon Beckman (Male 13-15) and Bradley Christinson all achieved gold.  Hayley Davis (Female 30-34) and Sam Kettle (Male 18-19) both achieved silver.  Ann Robottom (Female 50-54) and Sandra Kappley (Female 60-64) achieved bronze.

In 2011 Auckland held an ITU World Championship selection race for the World Championships, that Triathlon New Zealand successfully bid for and won, for the 2012 year.  Twenty three club members participated in the Olympic Distance qualifying event with Naomi Fergusson (Female 30-34) and Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) gaining first placings.  Ten club members participated in the Sprint Distance with Barry Payne (Male 65-69) achieving a first placing.

Forty-three club members qualified to represent New Zealand for the 2011-12 season.  In terms of World Championship performance members travelled far and wide.  Lucy Williams (Female 35-39) won silver and the World Long Distance Duathlon Championships.  Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) won her age group at Ironman Roth (Germany). John Moriarty qualified for Kona at Ironman Cairns.

The club was a finalist in the Sports Hawke’s Bay Sports awards for four categories:  Club Performance of the Year, Club Operation of the Year, Senior Sportsperson (Ali Hollington) and Administrator of the Year (Brendon Lodge).

The Club established a Youth Coaching initiative. This was a joint venture between TriNZ, Youth Town and the Club. The aim was to create a pathway for 12–16-year-olds to develop the skills and enjoyment of triathlon. The club subcontracted two TriNZ Level One coaches Ken Maclaren and Ali Hollington to deliver the course, which consisted of 30 training sessions. The coaches were supported by the club’s Development Manager. The programme was very successful and continued through to 2012-13.

Special mention goes to James Bell who had been club Treasurer for seven years.  He decided to stand down at the 2012 AGM.

2012

The year really started with the ITU World Championships in Auckland in September.  Twenty club members qualified and participated in the Olympic Distance event with Ali Hollington (Female 45-49) achieving silver.  Eleven members qualified and participated in the Sprint Distance event.  Ali also achieved bronze in the Aquathon event.

Four podiums were achieved at the National Duathlon event with Bruce Lockhead (Male 55-59), James Lockhead (Male 16-17) and Bradely Christison (Year 8) all achieving gold.  Thomas Christison (Year 7) achieved a bronze placing.

At the Long Distance Championships held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Ali Hollionton (Female 45-49) and Anthony Ham (Male 40-44) qualified and attended the event.

Challenge Wanaka put on an Iron Distance race in January 2013 in which Ali Hollington, racing as a professional, achieved a seventh placing.  If she raced as an age grouper she would have won her age group by over one hour!

At the Taupo New Zealand Ironman, twenty club members participated with Annika Johnson gaining a bronze placing in her 25-29 age group.

Two club members attended Ironman Kona in 2012, Brett Mudgeway and John Moriarty.

The club won two categories and the Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards.  Ali Hollington won Senior Sportsperson of the Year for winning a bronze medal at the ITU World Aquathlon Championships in Auckland; winning a silver medal at the ITU World Olympic Distance Triathlon championships in Auckland and winning a gold medal at the ITU World Long Course Championships in Spain.  The club again won the ‘Club Operation of the Year’ award.  The club was also finalists in ‘Club Performance of the Year’ and Brendon Lodge was a finalist in Administrator of the Year.

Brendon Lodge shared his skills and knowledge for the benefit of other regions.  During the 2012/13 season he assisted both the Manawatu and Nelson triathlon clubs with information to move them towards contracting a paid club administrator, essentially emulating the Hawke’s Bay Multisports business model.  He also worked with the Wairoa community to establish some events in their region.

The committee made some significant changes during the year.

On the operations front the Treasurer migrated the accounting and financial management of the club to the electronic age with internet banking and integrated electronic accounts to add efficiency to its financial operations.

In recognition for the tremendous contribution to the club it proposed at the AGM that a ‘life membership’ category be established.  The AGM approved this category of membership.

After many years of running a women’s only event (the Bloke Free event) it was discontinued during to financial viability reasons.  Similarly, the Ironkids Duathlon series was ceased for the same reason and instead a children’s Dash event was added to the VLK Duathlon series.

During the 2012-13 season a total of 43 club members were selected by Triathlon New Zealand to be a part of a New Zealand team, covering all distances: sprint, standard, long and ultra distance.  This represented 14% of the club’s membership.

2013

At a triathlon club forum hosted by Triathlon New Zealand, attended by the then President, Anthony Ham, Triathlon Hawke’s Bay was still the only club operating with a full time general manager.

The club won the ‘Club of the Year’ award at the Triathlon New Zealand annual awards ceremony.

Two new events were entered into the calendar with a specific goal of raising money for charity – the Women’s Triathlon to raise money for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation and the Men’s Triathlon to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand.  Both events were run on the same day, with men volunteering for the women’s race and then swapping with women volunteering for the men’s race. Both events successfully raising funds for the respective charities.

A tag team relay was added to the calendar, an event that is hugely popular in Europe.  Scheduled for just before Christmas, it was a fun event for members and participants.

The Three Rivers Winter Duathlon, at the later date of October, had a kayak option added, heralding a new club championship and it also marked the end of the winter duathlon series.

For the 2013-14 season a points series was introduced.  A summer triathlon points series held over the Shed 2 triathlon series and a winter duathlon points series held over the VLK and Three Rivers event.

The club wouldn’t be what it is without its sponsors. They consistently contribute to approximately 30% of the club’s operating income.

During the year the club embarked on an ambitious exercise of rebranding the club as Triathlon Hawke’s Bay to better reflect the services it provided.  (Hawke’s Bay Multisports Club remains the legal name but the club now trades as Triathlon Hawke’s Bay).  Wide consultation with the membership received nothing but support for the move.  Distinctive brand imagery was developed from which new club merchandise was cleverly designed and extremely popular – a real stand out at national events.

Also, as part of the re-brand exercise, the club embarked on development of a new website. Acknowledgement goes to the Committee member, Robin Gorry of Sitetools, for taking on the project in contra for sponsorship. The new platform is more in line with modern sites and is mobile friendly.  The committee made some bold moves in the past year, all aimed at positioning the club well for the future.  Special mention goes to Mark Lane, who served fourteen years continuous service, amongst other services, taking on the role of ‘statistician’, that tracked athlete performance and made it easy to determine winners of the annual club awards.

Four athletes attended the ITU World Long Course Championships in Belfort, France (Ali Hollington, James Dever, Graham Buske and Anthony Ham).  Two athletes attended the ITU Standard Distance Champs in London, England (Lynne Morgan and Sam Kettle).  Brett Mudgeway and John Moriarty attended the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

2014

The maturity of the club led once again to recognition at the Sport Hawke’s Bay Awards, as finalist in the categories of; Club Operations of the Year and Technical Official of the year (for Gail Hussey). And, not only finalists but also winners were Ali Hollington for Masters Sportsperson of the year Brendon Lodge for Club Administrator of the year.  For Brendon, like General Manager before him, this was a truly fitting award for not only a well prescribed position by the club but a job well done.

One performance that truly stood out during the year was that of Ali Hollington who amongst other performances was placed first in the Female 50-54 age group at Ironman Taupo, setting the age group course record for the swim, bike and overall finish in a time of 10hr23.

Emma Mackie attended the ITU World Long Course Championships in Weihai, China with Fred Koenders acting as co-manager for Triathlon New Zealand.  Will Kelsey and Steve Charles attended the ITU Standard Distance Championships in Edmonton, Canada.  Ali Hollington attended the WTC World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii.  Tony Harding attended the Xterra World Championships in Maui, Hawaii.

Ken MacLaren headed up a Youth Development Squad and worked closely with ten young developing athletes.

2015

One of the club’s greatest strengths is that it owns its own events.  This is a key contributor to being able to employ a General Manager.  This means that the club can run its events to a professional standard, resulting in satisfied participants, who come back to race again and keep those events full.  Which in turn generates both sponsorship and event revenue that allows the employment of the full time General Manager.

In May 2015 Brendon Lodge resigned, with Mike Bond being appointed as General Manager of the club.

The club’s Facebook page, one of the main mechanisms to communicate with members and participants, now sat at 1,624 fans.

Four members attended the National Olympic Distance Championships held in Wellington with Sherry Majors (Female 60-64) winning gold.

Eleven members attended the National Sprint Championships held at Kinlock with both Sherry Majors (Female 60-64) and Jane Lee (Female 65-69) winning silver and Julie Boshier (Female 70-74) winning gold.

The Long Course National Championships were held in Tauranga with nine club members attending.  Emelia Watkinson (elite) won gold, as did Karen Toulmin (Female 30-34) and Linda Exeter-Grant (Female 50-54).  Both Will O’Conner (Male 20-25) and Emma Mackie (Female 25-29) achieved bronze placings.

The National Duathlon Championships were held in Auckland with Terrance McKenzie winning gold in the Male 85-89 age group and Will Kelsey (Male 30-34) winning silver.

At the National Secondary Schools National Championships, Eva Goodisson won bronze.

Eva also won bronze at the National Junior Championships held in Wellington.

However, Eva really excelled at the World Aquathon Championships, held in Chicago, by winning gold.

At the World Duathlon Championships held in Adelaide, Bruce Lockhead (Male 55-59) won bronze and Terrance McKenzie (Male 85-89), having a good year, won gold

Special mention this year goes to Terrance McKenzie who is the 2015 National and World Age Group Champion for the 85-89 age group.  Terrance won the Club Performance of the Year for all of his achievements.

The club achieved finalist stage for six categories of the Sport Hawke’s Bay annual sports awards:  ‘Club Operations of the Year’, ‘Club Administrator of the Year’ (Mike Bond), ‘ Official of the Year’ (Gail Hussey), ‘Official of the Year’ (Brent Hussey), ‘Masters Sportsperson of the Year’ (Terrance McKenzie) and ‘Junior Sportsperson of the Year’ (Eva Goodison).

By this time the club boasted six Triathlon New Zealand accredited coaches with these people giving their spare time and shared their expertise with others in the club, as they set their goals and train for racing.

During this year, the committee made the decision to bring back to Hawke’s Bay a long-distance event.  After a considerable amount of planning work Napier Port Harbour to Hills Half Ironman was set for its first run in April 2017.

The Wednesday night midweek duathlon was introduced in 2015 with Campbell Bros sponsoring the event. 2016 saw the event expand in numbers making this a great success.

Six club members (Kaitlyn Price, Steve Charles, Megan Watson, Sherry Majors, Jane Lee and Julie Boshier) qualified for the World Olympic Championships to be held in Cozumel, Mexico the next year.  Fred Koenders was also appointed as Triathlon New Zealand’s Team Manager for this event.

Kathy Eggers and Tracey Chatterton qualified for the 2016 World Long Course Championships in Oklahoma, USA.

Linda Exeter-Grant and Karen Toulmin qualified for the 70.3 World Championships in 2016 held on the Sunshine Coast, Australia.

Will Kelsey qualified for the 2016 World Duathlon Championships held in Spain.

2016

A women’s only event was added back into the calendar with 52 participants.  Scott Clinic took over the sponsorship of the women’s only event at Pandora Pond in 2016 for two years. The event focused on new participants. Eva Goodissons parents driving this event.

2017

The committee we were very conscious that they didn’t want to burn out either the General Manager or the volunteers as they couldn’t just keep adding races without workload repercussions.  To that end they looked at the calendar and made the decision to remove the Iron kids races from four down to one race per season.  The Tremains Corporate Triathlon continued to work well for both the club and Tremains Real Estate.

The club assisted the running of the Taradale Primary Schools Triathlon (250 participants) and the Weetbix Triathlon (1,500 participants).

An innovation and additional service provided to participants was the introduction of a live timing system by incoming General Manager, Bruce Richardson (see below).  It was time to say goodbye to stop watches.  Recognition needs to go to the many personnel (mainly women) who over the years provided the timekeeping service.

The club again made the finals of the Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards in the categories of Administration of the Year (Mike Bond); Official of the Year (Gail Hussey), Senior Sportsperson of the Year (Linda Exeter-Grant) and Sports Organisation of the Year.

During the summer of 2017-18 Pandora Pond carpark was unavailable as the Napier City Council built new toilets and changing facilities.  But the nearby grassed area was available for events.

A large contingent of club members attended the ITU World Championships held in the Gold Coast, Australia.  After several years competing as an age grouper and junior women domestically Eva Goodisson began competing internationally as an elite athlete, this year in Osaka, Japan at the Asian Cup with a creditable 32^nd placing.

Mike Bond finished as General Manager, another who did an exceptional job as General Manager, his legacy being the Harbour to Hills Half Ironman event, which he instigated. This event had 387 participants in its first offering, which is an achievement for a Hawke’s Bay location.  The Port of Napier came on as the naming rights sponsor.

This year the Committee welcomed Bruce Richardson as the new General Manager, along with Ngaia and their family.

2018

Recognition goes to Anthony Ham, who retired as President after four solid years in the role.  Glen Yule took on the important presidency role.

This year the transition and finish line for the Tremains Corporate Triathlon was shifted to Meeanee Quay, a health and safety and also a spectator friendly measure.  However, the Tremains Triathlon was changed to a Duathlon this year due to water issues.  Ironic as this year saw the biggest entry for many years for the event. Having the same location for start and finish made the event as it created a tented village for both supporters and participants.

Participation at Harbour to Hills was down on the previous year with 295 registrations. Set up costs from the first event had been previously covered, so this event was more profitable.

The Trident timing app was used for the first time this year making it even easier for registration and timing.  Data entry for registration is no longer needed.  Eventually the app progressed to allow live results.

The club experienced significant barriers to event management with Pandora Pond frequently closed due to water contamination, often at short notice.  Local agencies (Napier City Council, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board) could not accurately determine the cause of poor water quality, but Pond closure became more frequent.

The club was advised by the Transit New Zealand that it could not use the expressway for the bike course as Transit deemed it too dangerous to cycle on.  In discussions with Transit, it was explained that the alternative to the expressway namely Westshore could be more dangerous with more obstacles on the riders left hand side i.e., driveways, cars, pedestrians.  In the end they agreed to let the club use the expressway but under condition of earlier start times to avoid traffic and that passage across the bridge be single file.  Although this meant an earlier start there were several benefits: less wind; less traffic; cooler racing temperatures and participants got the better part of the day after the race to spend with family.  Unfortunately for the Event Manager and volunteers it meant a very early start for set up.

A new event was added to the calendar, namely the Halloween Hunt.  Although not a triathlon it was a brilliant idea from Bruce Richardson and ably put together at short notice.  It proved to be very successful both for participants and in revenue back to the club. This event was sponsored by Harcourts HB and involved over 1200 people navigating a 2.3km course around the Hastings Sportspark stopping at 8 Halloween themed Activation Stations along the way to the finish line on the Athletic Track to collect their goodie bags. A great community event and a great way to market Triathlon HB.

Volunteer numbers, so key to the success of the club, remained strong.  Noteworthy, was Diana Tonks who volunteered at each event for 2018-19 season.

Three members compete at Ironman Kona: Brendon Vesty, John Moriarty and Erik Blomberg.

Brendon Vesty continued to perform with distinction winning his age group at the Aquabike World champs in Pontevedra, Spain.

Sherry Majors was a finalist in the CHB sports awards for senior sportsperson of the year.

2019

Water quality issues continued to dog the club.  A Shed 2 summer triathlon had to be moved to Westshore.  As a contingency, the Event Manager, Bruce Richardson, often had to develop multi plans, including traffic management plans, for multiple sites, for one event, not knowing until the last minute what site was going to be used.

All event insurance began going through a Triathlon NZ policy, however that meant that all events, from all Tri Clubs, had to become “Tri NZ endorsed” to ensure insurance cover. For an event to become endorsed a full health and safety policy and approved traffic managements plans needed to be submitted to Tri NZ along with a RAMS plan (Risk Assessment Method Statement) for every potential hazard on and off the course. Once submitted to Tri NZ, they independently audited the health and safety documentation by a H&S professional and it also needed to be approved by the Head Technical Official at Tri NZ. This added layers of complexity when planning events.

During her four years on an athletics scholarship at Davis University, California, Eva Goodisson maintained her hand in triathlon and broke into the elite scene. Immediately she achieved a 4th and 5th in Continental Cup events in Canada.

2020

The club was successful in gaining from Triathlon New Zealand, the National Aquathon and National Aquabike Championships to run inside the Harbour to Hills event.  But even with these two national events tagged on, the event started to decline in numbers and was becoming financially unviable. Falling numbers combined with increased costs ($35k for traffic management alone!) and increased health and safety requirements made the decision easy to cancel this Harbour to Hills for future years. Running costs totalled $90k and even with sponsorship and funding, profit was minimal at around $5k, but the risk was too high for the Club if not enough funds were raised to cover the running costs. This was the last running of this event.

After being sponsor of the summer triathlon series for many, many years Shed 2 stepped down as sponsor.  Fortunately, East Pier agreed to step up as sponsor, thereby providing an alternate hospitality venue for participants to receive spot prizes and socialise.

The biggest impact on the club in 2020 was Covid-19 which hit New Zealand in April.  Up until this point Bruce Richardson, as General Manager, had added additional events to the calendar, sponsor revenue was up and participation, especially at grassroots level, was increasing.  To keep the club financially viable, Bruce unselfishly volunteering to work elsewhere, retaining the event management role and his wife, Ngaia, stepped into the General Management role at reduced hours.  Sport Hawke’s Bay via Sport New Zealand provided $18,000 in funding thanks to the Government’s Community Resilience Fund for sporting organisations and Triathlon NZ came to the party with $10,000 in funding to assist the club.

Bruce and Ngaia, and committee members regularly called club members to check in that they were doing okay in their isolation bubbles during the pandemic.

Virtual events were put on with a good following, not only as an alternate source of revenue but a way to keep the club together.  The events received nationwide and international attendance.  The virtual events brought in alternate revenue for the club and were very easy to organise behind a keyboard, thanks to the One Time timing system (formally Trident timing). The Virtual events gave members something to aim for and allowed them to compete against friends and family overseas. Virtual school events were also organised for Sacred Heart College and Taradale High School.

Planned for 2020, but 2019 happened to be the last year that the long-running Tremains Corporate Triathlon ran.  The 2020 event had to be cancelled the week of the event due to the Covid lockdown.  The event had experienced declining numbers over the past few years, with the huge undertaking for the Event Manager and volunteers, it eventually was not viable to continue as the return was not sufficient or reliable income for the effort required.

The Halloween Hunt was very successful.  Although this event does not focus on core functions as a Triathlon Club, it does a great job at fundraising and allows support of Club members in other ways and also is a wonderful way of raising the Clubs profile in the community.  Harcourts as the main sponsor were enthusiastically behind the event and PaknSave Napier came onboard this year and paid for all the items in the goodie bags which was a great savings.  Napier City Council also came onboard with sponsorship. The change of venue to Marine Parade was excellent.  This year there were 920 people on the course enjoying good old fashioned family fun and some of the costumes were amazing.

A new event was established this year, an off-road triathlon at the Back Paddocks venue in Central Hawke’s Bay with an array of sponsors the naming sponsor was Platinum Homes HB.  Originally planned for March but had to be transferred to October because of Covid-19.  The event included a lake swim (man-made lake), a gravel mountain bike ride and an off road run around the lake in a stunning location at Back Paddock Lakes. 122 entries for the first year and a profit of $10k which was a great result for a new event, in a new location. Many entries were from Palmerston North, Wellington and Central Hawke’s Bay.

2021

It was hoped that the global pandemic would be well and truly over by January 2021, but that clearly wasn’t the case. The club fought hard in 2020 for its survival and 2021 was looking promising, but even more uncertainty was faced as the year unfolded.

High quality events were a hallmark of the General and Event Managers (Ngaia and Bruce Richardson) that the club started to see an increasing number of participants at its summer (East Pier) triathlon events.

The government’s pandemic alert level guidelines meant that only vaccinated participants could attend and volunteer at events.  The club had to become ‘vaccine mandated’.  There was some backlash but the cost of not becoming vaccine mandated is that events could only run with 25 people (including volunteers!) instead of a maximum of 100.  Anything less would have had significant financial impact on the club.

With each Covid Alert level and Traffic light change came new government rules and regulations. The club worked quickly to meet all obligations and keep the community safe.  This did come at a cost. Over $5,000 was spent during the year on temporary barriers to create “designated event areas” at events, as well as tonnes of hand sanitiser, masks, wipes, cleaning products, signage etc.

Face masks had to be worn by everyone until racing started and once it finished and events were limited to a maximum of 100 under Alert Level Two.  When an alert level changed up, it often resulted in an event being cancelled, at short notice.  Virtual events were again used to compliment and provide an alternative race for cancelled face to face events. What did work in the club’s favour is that with the limit of 100 people, every triathon event of the season sold out, within a week of registrations opening!

As example of the challenges of operating in a pandemic.  The Back Paddock Off Road Challenge was held on 17 October.  Unfortunately, still in Alert Level 2 the Event Manager was limited to 100 people at a time.  The event had to split the event into three with the kids competing on 16 October and a separate morning bubble on 17 October with the duathletes competing and an afternoon triathlon bubble. The event also had no spectators and a deep clean of equipment was required between each bubble/event.  This was a massive amount of work and really impacted on the atmosphere at the event, but the club got through it and it was a great fundraiser for the Club. $12k profit was achieved.

The Harcourts Halloween Hunt scheduled for 31 October.  In 2020 there were over 1,200 people on course, but as New Zealand was still in Alert Level 2 with a limit of 100 people in a bubble, that made hosting this event impossible.  Instead, with the help of the club’s volunteers as well as volunteers from More FM and Harcourts over 200 Halloween Hunt goodie bags were delivered to kids around Hawke’s Bay.  A wonderful community contribution by the club. Even under these circumstances the event raised a $5k surplus.

Acknowledgement goes to Brent Hussey for his many years of providing traffic management services.  While balancing some participation with his STMS service Brent finally, stood down from that role to concentrate on racing.  It is people like Brent, and other before him that contribute to the success of the club.

Health and Safety standards ramped up another notch.  New STMS rules came into place during the year where and STMS qualified person could no longer write the Traffic Management plans for the events. They now must be written by a fully qualified Temporary Traffic Management Planner (TTMP) planner, an extra expense to the Club.

The club was a finalist in three categories of the Hawke’s Bay sports awards: ‘Administrator of the Year’ (Bruce and Ngaia Richardson) and ‘Grassroots Club of the Year’ and ‘Innovation of the Year’ (for the virtual series).  The club proudly won the Grassroots Club of the Year prize.  A vindication to Bruce and Ngaia Richardson for the excellent work they had done.

A new and updated mobile app was launched, not only modernising the existing app but allowing for ‘push notifications’ and reminders to be sent to participants.  This facilitated the quick and reliable communication of postponements and cancellations, all so necessary in an environment of water quality issues at Pandora Pond and operating in a pandemic.

The club launched a Multisport Youth Squad.  Port of Napier came on board as sponsor (for three years), transferring their sponsorship from the terminated Harbour to Hills event.  Open to people 7-19 years of age.  Coaching was run by Triathlon New Zealand accredited coaches Samantha Griffiths, Geoff Griffiths, Alison Oliver, Carlton Oliver and Ngaia Richardson. It was launched with a video found here on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91xMNHIbO-k 

The squad size quickly grew to eighty-six children and youth by the end of the year with weekly trainings in summer and fortnightly in winter

Merchandise provider changed from Green Monkey to Ultimo Apparel.  Ultimo is based in Wellington and all items are made in New Zealand in true New Zealand sizing, much to the approval of club members.

2022

The club was a finalist at the HB Sports Awards for “Volunteer of the Year – John Rhodes”, “Grassroots Club of the Year” and “Innovation of the Year – Multisport Youth Squad” and came away winners of the Grassroots Club of the Year again. Categories were changed that year so there was no longer an Administrator of the Year category.

Back Paddock Off Road Challenge changed its name to the Platinum Homes Back Paddock Multisport Festival in 2022, as it included over 18 different disciplines (solo swims distances, solo run distances, solo mountain bike distances, kid’s events, duathlons and triathlons). The event grew to 162 participants with a profit of $14k. The highlight was the introduction of the “Coldicutt Shortcut” – participants had the option of running the normal course OR opting for the shortcut through a watery trench with slippery Swiss balls thrown at them, Nerf guns shot at them along with water pistols and then followed up with a good dose of blue dye. A lot of people looked like giant Smurfs along the multi lap course!

Bruce and Ngaia Richardson tendered their resignation in June with an end date in November to allow the Club a lot of time to recruit for the General Manager position. In October Geoff and Samantha Griffiths were employed as the new managers and a handover period with Bruce and Ngaia began. Unfortunately, Geoff and Sam tendered their resignation in November and Ngaia continued part time in the position until March 2023 – working remotely from Nelson. The Committee stepped up and managed events on the ground in the interim.

Unfortunately the HB Primary and Intermediate Schools triathlon, that was to be held at the beginning of December, had to be cancelled due to lack of General Manager at the time. This was a disappointment as the event was also cancelled in previous years due to Covid.

The Multisport Youth Squad continued to thrive with strong membership (over 90). All youth members enjoyed receiving the free merchandise upon joining – Multisport youth squad quick dry t-shirt, race belt, transition cooling towel, visor and bag. Napier Port were very happy with their ongoing sponsorship. Regular trainings were held. The club was successful in receiving $16,800 funding from the Sport HB Tu Manawa Fund for the initiative.

The Heretaunga Women’s Centre (HWC) approached Tri HB to manage a Women’s Only Triathlon for them, as a fundraiser for their community organisation. This was held in September at the Hawkes Bay Regional Sports Park with over 150 participants. HWC were in charge of all the marketing, funding applications and driving registrations and Tri HB managed the event with traffic management, course planning, registration platform, timing services, health and safety procedures and volunteers. This was a great success for both parties – the HWC made $4k and Tri HB made $4200 for our services. The major bonus was that a number of women were introduced to their first triathlon experience in a way that welcomes beginners.  This event was a ‘win-win’ for both parties.

By the end of 2022 the Club was in a good financial position and bounced back from the Covid affected years. Sponsorships were strong and memberships were the highest since 2015 (when membership was $10 (!), by now was $65 plus Tri NZ fee). A contingency fund of $20k was set aside in a separate bank account to cover three months Club running costs in case of another Covid lockdown period or shutdown of events, meeting a club financial policy of have three months operating as a reserve.

Eva Goodisson participated in Commonwealth games trials 2022 won bronze in the event held in New Plymouth.  Her fifth podium to date.  She became an elite carded athlete possibly the first Triathlon Hawke’s Bay member to do so, an amazing achievement following years of dedicated training and racing around the world she became truly elite and internationally ranked.  Later that year she achieved a 11^th at the World Triathlon Cup in Valencia, Spain, 7^th at the World Triathlon Cup in Miyazaki, Japan and a 24^th placing at the World Elite Sprint Championships held in Montreal, Canada.

2023

2023: Resilience Amid Challenges

December 2022 marked a significant change for Triathlon Hawkes Bay as George Massingham stepped down as Club President after navigating one of the most difficult periods in the club's history, managing both the challenges of COVID-19 and persistent water quality issues. The club remained under the remote management of Ngaia Richardson, who continued to guide operations from Nelson until July 2023, ensuring continuity during a time of transition.

In early 2023, Gavin and Kay Smales stepped up as Club President and Secretary, respectively. Their leadership brought stability and direction during a critical time for the club. However, the Smales family decided to embark on a year-long family adventure later in the year, prompting another shift in leadership.

In June 2023, Jeremy Rimene was appointed as the new General Manager of Triathlon Hawkes Bay. He assumed the role in July, just as the winter Duathlon season was in full swing. Under Jeremy's management, all six duathlon events were successfully held at Haumoana School, providing a consistent venue and helping the club rebuild momentum after the disruptions of the past years. The winter series became a highlight for participants, showcasing the club’s commitment to delivering quality events even during challenging times.

In February 2023, Hawke’s Bay was devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle, a disaster that deeply affected the region and its people. The club quickly adapted to the circumstances, balancing respect for those impacted by the cyclone with efforts to maintain the community spirit of triathlon.

The East Pier Summer Series, scheduled to culminate in March 2023, faced unprecedented disruptions. Two races were canceled outright, while two others were converted into duathlons due to water contamination at Pandora Pond. Only one of the five events ran as a full triathlon, a decision that, in hindsight, sparked internal reflection on prioritizing safety and environmental considerations. The event scheduled for March 19 was notably altered to exclude the swim leg, both due to water quality concerns and as a gesture of respect for the cyclone's victims. Participants were offered flexibility in altering their race disciplines, showcasing the club’s adaptability and care for its members.

Despite these challenges, the club’s resilience shone through. Members and volunteers rallied to sustain the community, focusing on the spirit of multisport and camaraderie. Efforts were also directed toward supporting affected members of the wider Hawke’s Bay region, reinforcing the club’s role as a pillar of the local community.

Looking Ahead

By mid-2023, as the club transitioned into new leadership, it began to rebuild its momentum. Plans were laid to reassess event planning, with a greater focus on contingency strategies for environmental challenges. The club also aimed to enhance its partnerships with regional councils and health organizations, seeking long-term solutions to the recurring water quality issues at Pandora Pond.

As the region healed from the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle, Triathlon Hawkes Bay remained committed to fostering a vibrant and inclusive multisport culture, proving once again its ability to overcome adversity and thrive amidst change.