Dive In Welcome to TQ

In late-breaking news, it turns out “summer” is still an actual thing. The sodden half of the country will greet this shocking revelation with scepticism but TQ (Howdy there!) has just returned from a mythical land where terra firma and water still know their respective places and the ceiling isn’t permanently low and leaden grey.

How enchanting it was to jet into Queenstown for the epic weekend of Challenge Wānaka, a blue skies carnival of elite endeavour and age group achievement. All under the shadows (remember those) of the majestic Southern Alps.

Contributors

CAMERON BROWN

The 12-time IMNZ champ’s 30-year-old alter ego is trying to ignore his actual 50-year-old body (p70)

HEATHER NEILL

If the Napier vet isn’t saving your pet’s life, chances are she’s out training for IMNZ 70.3 in Taupo (p36)

JOHN HELLEMANS

Erin Baker, Kris Gemmell & Andrea Hansen are but a few of the Chch coach’s success stories (p32)

GEORGE WARDELL

How strong & conditioned is HPSNZ’s S&C coach? NZ long drive golf champion strong. Fore! (p98)

In the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘escapism’ is depicted as “… a form of entertainment, etc. that helps you avoid or forget unpleasant or boring things.” In the soggy North Island of New Zealand, things definitely haven’t been dull of late but the definition has been replaced by “get out of Dodge” for anyone seeking such blissful respite. Presuming that was even possible and your house, street, suburb or entire province wasn’t surrounded by an impromptu moat. We’re especially thinking of all those in the Tri Hawke’s Bay, Eastland Tri & Multisport Club and Tri Whangarei catchments. Kia Kaha all.

Still, TQ is clinging to the irrefutable proof that the seasons haven’t mysteriously switched hemispheres and that our favourite form of escapism – swim, bike and run – will survive the bad news deluge.

During the hell of Cyclone Gabrielle and the high water of Auckland’s floods before that, we’ve been busy working on a digital diversion to hopefully brighten the days ahead. Welcome, then, to Triathlon Quarterly, or TQ as we like to call it.

From the Olympic Games to the iconic WeetBix Kids TRYathlon and every weekend warrior dream in between, it’s an unashamedly Kiwi celebration of all things triathlon. Our mission is to champion the entire sport, the long and short of it, and we trust you’ll find plenty of inspiration to fuel your particular passion here.

We’re just getting started too. TQ is a cornerstone project of a wider Tri NZ strategy to return triathlon reportage to glories past across multiple mediums.

To achieve these lofty ambitions, we need your help to accelerate and accentuate TQ’s launch. So as we cross the start line, we encourage you to get social if you like what you see. Let your tri and endurance sports mates the world over know TQ is here and free for everyone. Crow or critique, we don’t mind. Just make sure to tag @triathlonnz #TQGram in the conversation. Let our awesome advertisers know you’ve seen them in TQ and better still, support them so they’ll continue supporting us. Together, we’ll all prosper.

In short, we implore you to shout about TQ from the rooftops, with due deference to those unbelievably trapped on theirs of late.

To everyone who has contributed to our first edition, a gigantic thank you. We hope our list of features has done you justice and that you’ll come back for more. To our friends down south, some of you paradoxically in drought, thanks for your recent hospitality. It’s been hard not to be a bit myopic up north recently but TQ won’t be Auckland-centric, we promise.

To those central, eastern and northern North Islanders wading into the massive clean-up, good luck. We hope the pages of TQ will offer a little respite at some point and have you back doing what you love best soon.

Enjoy the read.

Kent Gray Managing Editor