Savouring prospect of visit to ‘home of Peaky Blinders’

Commonwealth games ‘lets go': Gisborne's very own Tayler Reid, celebrates his bronze medal run in the Mixed Teams Tri with Nicole van der Kaay, Andrea Hewitt and Ryan Sissons at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He has been selected to go to the Birmingham Games this year and will compete in the Individual men's triathlon and mixed relay races. NZ Herald picture

Gisborne triathlete Tayler Reid has been selected in a six-strong triathlon team to represent New Zealand at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“Amped to be named to my second Comm Games team,” Reid said on Instagram.

“It's the greatest privilege to represent Aotearoa, Gizzy, my family and all of my supporters! It takes a tribe.”

Reid, speaking from France, where he is training, said the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games had been an “awesome experience” and he wanted to improve on his achievements. He was part of the bronze-medal-winning mixed relay team at the Gold Coast Games.

“Looking forward to heading to the home of the Peaky Blinders,” he said.

Reid, 25, attended Gisborne Boys' High School and Campion College and is coached by Gisborne's Stephen Sheldrake.

Reid was also a member of the gold-medal-winning New Zealand team in the Under-23 World Championship Mixed Team Relay in Lausanne in 2019.

• Nicole van der Kaay (Tri Sport Taupō/Taupō)

• Ainsley Thorpe (Cambridge)

• Andrea Hansen (née Hewitt) (Canterbury Triathlon Club/Christchurch)

• Tayler Reid (Eastland Triathlon and Multisport Club/Gisborne)

• Hayden Wilde (Eastern Bay Multisport and Triathlon Club/Whakatane)

• Dylan McCullough (Auckland)

All six athletes will compete individually in the men's and women's Olympic distance race, which consists of a 1500-metre swim, 40-kilometre bike ride and 10km run. Once they have competed in the individual, a team of four will be named to compete as a team in the mixed team relay, known as the MTR or MR. This format is a four-person female and male relay race over a super-sprint distance of 300m swim, 8km bike and 2km run. The race usually lasts less than 90 minutes, each triathlete's effort generally lasting around 20 minutes.

Olympic bronze medallist Hayden Wilde, from Whakatane, has carried on his impressive form since the Games, with a World Champion Xterra title, a second placing in the Triathlon Super League, a win at the Singapore Arena Games in May and most recently a silver medal at the Yokohama World Triathlon.

Olympic teammates Reid, Ainsley Thorpe and Nicole van der Kaay will be joining Wilde in this Commonwealth Games team, alongside 40-year-old multiple Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist Andrea Hansen (née Hewitt) and Dylan McCullough.

Hansen said she had been working towards Games selection but it was still “a bit of a surprise” to be named.

“I didn't know how I'd recover after having my daughter Flossie 15 months ago, so I'm feeling very lucky to be back for my fourth Commonwealth Games,” she said.

Tokyo Olympian Ainsley Thorpe, from Cambridge, says she can't wait for her first Commonwealth Games.

“I'm looking forward to my overseas campaign in the lead-up to the Games alongside my teammates,” she said.

Nicole van der Kaay, from Taupō, who won silver at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Hamburg in the elite women's race at the end of 2021, is thrilled to be returning to racing in Europe.

Dylan McCullough, the 2018 Youth Olympic champion, says he'll be putting all his energy into chasing a top result at the Games.

“My coach John Hellemans and I have set a good plan, which includes a training camp in Spain and a few build-up races before the games to make sure I go into the race at 100 percent,” McCullough said.

“I am really looking forward to soaking up the whole Commonwealth Games experience. I have just turned 21 and the Commonwealth Games is something that most New Zealand school kids learn about at some stage during their schooling. I remember doing a project on the Commonwealth Games in primary school, so to get the opportunity to represent New Zealand now in Birmingham is a very special feeling.”

The Triathlon New Zealand Reserve athletes are Olivia Thornbury and Trent Thorpe.

The naming takes the number of athletes so far selected to the New Zealand team for Birmingham 2022 to 63.