Gary Fahey in the transition stage of the competition.
The race kicked off with a 750-metre swim in Caroline Bay, followed by a 20-kilometre cycle to the Church St supermarket and back, and a 5km run along the bay to the finish line in the grass area in the middle of Port Loop Rd.
Novice competitors raced in the half-distance Try-a-Tri, which also offered a duathlon option for those who were not swimming.
Tri NZ community manager Mel Saltiel said the organisation usually held a national sprint distance triathlon each year, but decided to split it into one for the North Island and one for the South Island because Covid-19 had made it much more difficult to travel.