A jubilant Brayden Mercer felt like he had wings as he stormed to a shock, legacy-building Noosa Triathlon victory, seven years after the death of father Dean.
Mercer was a popular winner in a quality field in Sunday’s race, with the 20-year-old leading the swim leg, pushing clear on the bike and holding off Olympians Tayler Reid, Luke Willian, Jamie Riddle and Jake Birtwhistle on the run.
Meanwhile, Ashleigh Gentle claimed a staggering 11th title and 10th in a row in the women’s race.
Mercer screamed in delight after finishing the 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run in one hour, 43 minutes and 20 seconds.
New Zealand’s Reid vomited just before hitting the finish line 38 seconds later, then fell to his knees and emptied the tank in the shadows of the stands while Australia’s Paris Olympian Willian staggered home in third.
Mercer celebrated with his three brothers and mother Reen Corbett, herself a former surf lifesaving champion, and acknowledged the spiritual presence of his legendary father who suffered a cardiac arrest and died in 2017.
Uncle Darren, himself a Surf Life Saving Australia hall of famer, is the Noosa Heads head coach.
“It’s a special moment; they mean the world to me and I’m so close to mum and my brothers,” he said.
“It’s the biggest privilege I can have (to have the Mercer name on his back), gives me strength and I felt like I had wings out there.”
Mercer began in surf lifesaving like his parents and uncle before a switch to triathlon three years ago.
The 2028 LA Olympics are now firmly in the sights of a talent still finding his way on the bike.
“The history there, I strive to keep that legacy going and follow in the footsteps for sure,” Mercer said of his champion family.
“When it got hard I said, ‘you got this’, then that last kilometre I put the hammer down.”
Thousands of competitors were involved during the Noosa Triathlon festival, which included the Noosa Triathlon, the GWM Australian Open Criterium, the Asics Bolt, a Superkidz Triathlon and Special Triathlon.
Things went to script for Gentle, the 33-year-old winning a remarkable 10th straight title and 11th in 12 years.
The two-time Olympian has transitioned to middle-distance racing and will gun for the T100 world title in Dubai in a fortnight.
She showed off a new sitting position on her time trial bike to make up more than 90 seconds in the first half of the 40km bike leg to win in 1:55:56, one minute clear of Richelle Hill.
Paris Olympian Natalie Van Coevorden was third, a further two minutes back.
“It’s really surreal … Brayden just won his first and I remember when I was that young and won my first, literally a lifetime ago,” Gentle said.
“Super happy for him and it brings me back and makes me think about how far I’ve come and grown up with this race.
“I was getting emotional just listening to him.”
Gentle was fortunate to race in what was her only Australian appearance this year, opting out of the T100 Las Vegas event and making the most of another T100 leg being scrapped that created a window ahead of the Dubai finale.
An Olympian in Rio and Toyko, Gentle has relished the move to middle distance racing and could also squeeze in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in New Zealand in December.
“It lights a fire in me (Noosa), grounds me, fills the cup up,” she said.
“Each year my love for the sport is getting greater and greater, which says a lot because I’ve always loved it.”
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