If you asked Brooke Davis-Goodall at the start of 2024 whether selection for a national triathlon team would be on the cards, the sure answer would have been “no”.
But just five months into her return to the sport the Bond University student has won gold in both the Kingscliff and Wollongong AquaBike events, victories that sealed her selection in the New Zealand triathlon squad for the World Triathlon Age Group Championships in Spain in October.
AquaBike is a slimmed-down version of the traditional Olympic distance triathlon events that only includes a bike and swim leg, making it the perfect discipline for Davis-Goodall’s return to racing.
The 19-year-old Biomedical Science student, who was born in New Zealand but has been living in Queensland since she was four, has struggled with injuries caused by running training.
“I used to train for triathlons as a teen but I had a lot of injuries so I had to take a step away from the sport and just focussed on my swimming,” she said.
“I decided to make a comeback this year and so I started competing in the AquaBike events.”
Her time of 1hr 28m 12s at the Wollongong Triathlon saw a four-minute improvement on her time from the Kingscliff Triathlon a month earlier.
“My bike is my strongest leg, it’s a family thing,” she said.
“My mum and dad are avid riders and I’ve been on two wheels since I was a kid.”
Brooke plans to add running back into her training mix by the end of the year and start competing in full triathlons by early 2025.
“The run is where I’ve struggled with injury,” she said.
“Triathlon is hard on a young body - you have to train smart to keep your body healthy.
“I’m more focused for the longer distance triathlons, the 70.3 mile events.
“My absolute dream would be to compete in a full ironman triathlon, it’s been my dream since I was a kid.”
The lead-up to the World Championships in Spain will see Brooke’s training in both the cycling and swimming leg gradually increase.
“This will be my first world championship. It’s very exciting, it’s 100 percent my biggest achievement so far,” she said.
Davis-Goodall trains in the Bond swimming squad under coach Zander Hey.
“Bond’s swimming program is strong on making sure each swimmer is supported in their strokes and distances,” she said.
“It’s been great to train with some on the international swimmers who are here at Bond at the moment, it’s increased my strength ten-fold.”