No let-Up for Reid

swim again: Tayler Reid heads down to the water for the second swim leg of the Surfbreaker Triathlon at Mt Maunganui.Pictures by Julie Maree Photography

Triathlete Tayler Reid is maintaining momentum as the new year beckons.

He finished second in the Surfbreaker Triathlon at Mt Maunganui last weekend.

Reid finished 21 seconds behind the best triathlete in the country, Hayden Wilde, and almost two minutes ahead of third-placed Dylan McCullough.

The race was a variation on the traditional triathlon. Competitors completed two laps of the 375-metre swim/10-kilometre bike/2.5km run course.

Reid said he knew he had to come off the final leg of the bike ahead of Wilde — ranked in the top 15 in the world and third-placegetter in a 2019 Olympic qualification event — to have any chance of beating him.

But Reid couldn't build up the buffer he needed against the strong-running Wilde.

Typically the swim leg isn't held in beach conditions and Reid, having grown up training on Gisborne's beaches, used his surf knowledge to catch and bodysurf a wave from “halfway out”. That gave him a confidence boost going into the bike.

He said he was happy with how he raced and could feel the effect of his training on his performance.

“What I'm doing in training is paying off. The hard work is actually working.”

Reid said the alternative format made for “tricky” racing. The field was spread out more than it would be in a typical triathlon, and he had to pace himself in the first run instead of dumping all of his energy in the race for the finish line.

“It's a different kind of race,” he said.

“You do two really short triathlons, and there's a chance to get back in it with the second leg.

“I ended up second on the first run. He (Wilde) was getting away, but I knew if I ran beyond my ability, I wouldn't be able to swim as well.”

Reid, an Olympic hopeful himself, said he was grateful to be living in a country where he could continue to race.

The ability to compete in a full racing schedule gave New Zealand athletes an advantage in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics, he said.

New Zealand's raft of high-calibre triathletes made the “small local races” very competitive, Reid said.

Reid is in Gisborne spending time with friends and family before he returns in January to Cambridge, where he's based for training.