With races now coming thick and fast as we enter the start of the season, Challenge Family kicked off their calendar in New Zealand with Challenge Wanaka.

On the South Island, home star Kyle Smith and Dutch pro Els Visser took home the titles after two commanding victories over the middle distance.

Sharing their thoughts after the race, both athletes were delighted to have a great day and look forward to even more success throughout the rest of the season.

“I’m super stoked to take the win here”

For Visser, the win was made even sweeter by the fact that she had just fell short last year, where she finished second behind Australian Grace Thek.

“I’m super stoked to take the win here, especially after taking second last year, so it’s great to be back and to take the win is extra special.

“I knew I had some work to do after the swim, Rebecca [Clarke] is just an incredible swimmer so I had some work to do and I had to close at least four minutes.

“I knew with the challenging bike course, which was super hard and the run as well, that I could be patient and race my own race.

“I was a little surprised I closed the gap so well on the bike, at about 40km I had already closed four minutes and I just kept pushing and pushing and felt really good.

“Luckily once I got on to the run I was able to enjoy it a little bit. The environment here is amazing and it was just an incredible day.” 

“It was one of those magical days”

For Smith, the race win marked a strong return to training and racing after falling sick a month and a half ago with Covid-19.

“It was one of those magical days really, you don’t get many of them in your career and that was probably the best I’ve ever had in three years, since the start of 2021.

“It was a complete performance for me which I haven’t put together in a while and I felt really good today coming out of the water with a small lead.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect after having Covid six weeks ago, but I’ve had a really good training camp down here in Wanaka with Braden [Currie] and today I was able to put it all together.”