The gold medal glory continued for Australia in the Oceania Elite & U/23 Championships as both Tara Sosinski and Luke Willian walked away with titles after strong showings.
Tara Sosinski stamped her authority on the race from the get-go with a dominant swim allowing her to establish a lead while Zoe Clarke and Ellie Hoitink rounded out the podium spots.
“It was a little bit of a smaller field here today and I didn’t really know what to expect. Fortunately, Zoe and I had a little bit of a gap out of the water and we just worked really hard that first half of the bike and we established a little bit of a lead and it grew from there. Then on the run I just settled into my own rhythm and I’m really pleased to win today,” Sosinski said.
“It’s the first race of the season so it’s always a bit of an unknown in where you are in fitness and form so it’s really nice to start the season on a positive note and also a bonus to secure that U/23 automatic worlds selection.
In the men’s it was an all-Australian contingent with 2025 winner, Brandon Copeland taking out third and Callum McCluskey securing second as Luke Willian, claimed his first elite title in Devonport after competing here for 12 years.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the world no.8 who received a 10 second time penalty in T1 after getting away too quickly in the swim.
“It’s pretty special. I’ve had a fair few go’s at it so I think that makes it all the more special. If you at first don’t succeed, try again and I think that’s testament to how hard I’ve worked over all these years to get the win today.”
“It’s a really honest course, the last couple of laps my legs started to feel it a little bit and to get through it with how I felt was a good sign for the rest of the season. You know I’ll have a little bit of downtime in the altitude tent when I get back home and some work before Yokohama.”
All of the results from today’s Oceania Triathlon Championships can be viewed here.
