Trans-Tasman Battle Set To Take Place At Ironman Australia

IRONMAN Australia returns for the first time since 2019, with ten professional male and six professional female triathletes set to line up to contest the event’s 35th anniversary.

In the men’s field, Auckland’s Jack Moody and Christchurch’s Ben Phillips will lead the New Zealand charge.

Moody is a rising star of the sport with a big future ahead of him, finishing fourth on his professional debut at the 2021 Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand and securing a handful of half distance podium placings over the past couple of years.

A former engineer and DJ, Moody made the switch to professional triathlete in 2019 and after a solid two years of domestic racing is excited to test himself against his Australian counterparts.

“We’ve been really lucky the last couple of years with the rise of Kyle Smith and having Braden Currie, so our domestic racing has been just as good as anywhere else in the world that’s been restricted in having other internationals, so it’s not like we’ve had any shortness in competition at the half or full distance in New Zealand which is cool,” said Moody.

“I think that’s what excites me to go over and then race the Aussies and see how we stack up on an international stage. These New Zealand guys have always got the same skillsets so it will be a different set of skillsets that we’ll
racing when we head over.”

Moody is a former 2000m and 3000m steeplechase national champion, with numerous half marathon titles to his name. He says he’s aware of his own strengths and weaknesses and is looking forward to experiencing racing against the likes of former IRONMAN Cairns winner Josh Amberger, multiple IRONMAN winner Tim van Berkel and former IRONMAN Australia champion Tim Reed.

“It’s just cool to just race some different people. You know enough race results especially over the last few months with plenty of racing happening in Australia, and you know where their skill sets are, Amberger is definitely going to swim the house down and then Tim van Berkel is strong across all three on his day, but particularly could be someone quite dangerous on the bike, and you’ve got Tim Reed in there, so there’s definitely a lot of talent within that start list,” he said. “It will be cool to see where I stack up. I know my strengths and I’ve been working on my weaknesses a lot over the past two years or so, so just getting more and more progress behind those.”

With the top two male pros qualifying for the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, Moody has his sights firmly set on a podium finish.

“Kona is the goal, that’s what I’ve got my eyes set on for sure,” said Moody. “It would be awesome actually, just to get on an international stage after all these couple of years away and show that the Kiwis haven’t been mucking around and that we are the real deal. I think everyone looks at us as a small country with not much racing, and it’s just this domestic scene, so for us to come over and shake things up and be on the podium, that’s definitely what I’m aiming for.”

Ben Phillips, brother of former IRONMAN New Zealand champion Mike Phillips, has experience racing on Australian soil, mostly recently in finishing eighth the 2021 IRONMAN Cairns, but is excited for his first taste of IRONMAN Australia.

“I’ve done Cairns probably three times now, I haven’t been to Port Macquarie before but I’m looking forward to getting down there and seeing what it’s all about,” said Phillips. “The Kiwi boys probably haven’t had as much racing as the Aussie guys have lately so it’s a wee bit of an unknown. I think it’ll be an exciting day.”

With limited racing over the past two years Phillips has focused on his work and fatherhood whilst also juggling his training, so says he’s just hoping to put together a strong performance across the three disciplines at IRONMAN Australia.

“I just want to do another race, get over there and just have a solid day and be strong. Don’t go too hard too early and just enjoy it rather than suffering through it,” he said. “I think everyone will probably be reasonably even across the race and on the day, looking at the people in it. I think I’ll probably just be sort of trying to hold it all together on the run.”

Auckland’s Rebecca Clarke will be the sole Kiwi representing in the women’s field at IRONMAN Australia but plans to make her presence felt strongly on Australian turf.

“Wherever you’re from, you do have a home advantage and we haven’t been able to use that home advantage too much,” said Clarke. “Coming to Australia we have a little bit more, the travel and things, and also the environment. I think I struggled a bit with that at IRONMAN Cairns last year, we talk about humid Auckland but it’s a lot more humid over there. I don’t think Port Mac is quite as humid. I was a bit disappointed with Cairns last year so just want to make sure I do the things I didn’t do right there. It would mean a lot.”

Putting into practice what she’s learnt about racing in Australia, the 2021 IRONMAN New Zealand runner up is aiming for a top-two finish and a spot at the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona on 6 October.

“I think for IRONMAN athletes, the World Champs in Kona is the goal, so it’s something that I will be targeting. It hasn’t been on for a couple of years so it’s going to be a big one. I’m hoping to have a good race at IRONMAN Australia and put myself forward for that,” said Clarke.