From left, second place Tayler Reid, first place Hayden Wilde and third place Dylan McCullough.
New Zealand's triathletes of all skills and ages met at the shore of Ngamotu Beach last month to take part in the annual Try Taranaki event.
There was something for all skill sets, from the Taranaki Tri-er for people taking part in a triathlon for the first time, Age Group Sprint races and an Oceania Continental Cup for Elite athletes, working towards selection for the Commonwealth Games.
Event director Shanelle Barrett says Try Taranaki has run since 2010 and she is thrilled it could take place this year.
"We're all happy this could take place for our athletes of all ages and skills and to have it at New Plymouth's beautiful Ngamotu Beach is the icing on the cake."
She says Taranaki is welcoming and the perfect place to have the event.
"I really like it here. We've been coming here for 11 years. It's a beautiful part of the country and the community always makes us feel welcome and gets behind the athletes by coming down here to cheer them on."
Without the help of sponsors and volunteers, this wouldn't be possible, says Shanelle.
"Venture Taranaki and Toi Foundation are big supporters of this and our volunteers always do an excellent job in ensuring the event runs smoothly."
The Oceania Continental Cup was highly contested, with New Zealand's best athletes giving their all to come away with the winning title.
Athletes took part in a 750m sprint distance race off Ngamotu Beach, 20km bike course around Port Taranaki and a 5km run along the beachfront.
The race was won by Olympic Bronze medallist Hayden Wilde and fellow Olympian Nicole van der Kaay.
Nicole says it was lovely to be back in New Plymouth on a beautiful day.
"It was windy and the course is always very hard with four laps of the big hill climb. I always seem to have a great swim here, I don't know why but it's fantastic."
She says the cheering crowds helped the athletes keep going.
"It was great to see the atmosphere and see the proper crowds which were fantastic. The team did well, not only me but the rest of the athletes, the technical officials and organisers. It is just fantastic to be here."
Hayden and Nicole both led out of the swim and were strong on the bike course.
Hayden managed to separate from the lead men's group, while Nicole felt the pressure of Ainsley Thorpe, Andrea Hansen (nee Hewitt) and Eva Goodison till the run where she shook the ladies and applied her own pressure to take the podium.
She says her game plan was to go out and make it a good hard race and have fun while I was doing it.
"It played in my favour and I felt strong all day and loved it. It was very nice to have people cheering and to hear your name out there. Especially to be on home soil again and racing. It's a great feeling and a direction we need to be going. So it's cool."
Andrea Hansen (nee Hewitt) came in second with a strong performance.
Young triathlete Eva Goodison made her first Continental Cup podium coming in third.
Olympian Tayler Reid came in second to Hayden Wilde with a convincing lead over Dylan McCullough who had a pack of seven men catching him on the finishing chute but managed to hold on till the very end.
The Tri Taranaki Festival also saw the Suzuki NZ Para Triathlon National Champs which first-time triathlete Maria Williams and her guide Melissa Moon won.
Maria says she enjoyed the course but had to concentrate the whole time.
"There was super organisation, you knew exactly where you were in all three disciplines. And for first-timers like ourselves, it was like going into the unknown. But with the organisation and the tour of transition, it gave us peace of mind and we have the first one under our belt now."
Hundreds of school aged-athletes challenged themselves in the Suzuki NZ School Championships.
Beatrice Stewart from Wellington and Regan Clark from Taranaki won the Taranaki Tri-ers race.