Kiwis Ready to Race at Tri Series

Competition Preview – 2026 Ngarluma Tri Series

Two New Zealand swimming teams, each comprising 20 swimmers, have arrived in Karratha, Western Australia, ahead of the 2026 Ngarluma Tri Series, taking place from Wednesday 8 to Friday 10 July.

This is the second consecutive year that New Zealand teams are travelling to Australia for the event, with this year's edition to be hosted on Australia's west coast for the first time. The two New Zealand teams will face off against Western Australia and Victoria across the three days of competition, with the New Zealand teams looking to end Victoria's three-year winning streak.

Tri Series has been designed to provide high-level representative competition for swimmers and coaches. It aims to challenge athletes' racing skills, push them outside their comfort zones, and promote personal growth in a performance environment. It also aims to foster team camaraderie and build lasting friendships amongst swimmers across the four teams.

The competition format consists of five match races, where swimmers will race to score points for their team. Individuals can race in a maximum of three events per match, specifically two individual events and one relay per match. Two athletes from each team may race in each event. Points are awarded for the placing in each of the individual events, skins events and relays across each match.

Competition Information

This competition will not be live streamed, however you can follow the results through the Swimming Western Australia competition webpage where they will upload a link to live results and a PDF of results following each match. We also encourage you to follow Swimming NZ on social media for updates during the competition.

Programme & Results

Each New Zealand team has appointed its leadership group.

Team Black will be led by co-captains Holli Macdonald and Orlando Hardie (both of Hamilton Aquatics), with coaches Ben Lavigne (Tawa) and Wilrich Coetzee (Coast) guiding the team.

Team White will be led by co-captains Millie Bell (North Canterbury) and Luke Manderson (Wharenui), with coaches Kirsty Johnson (Trojans) and Chris Paproski (Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika) guiding the team.

Both New Zealand teams are being guided by Tri Series Head Coach Carl Gordon (Wharenui) and supported by Tri Series Team Manager and Assistant Coach Brigitte Mahan (North Canterbury).

Team Black captains Holli Macdonald and Orlando Hardie spoke on what an honour it is to represent New Zealand at this competition.

"It is a great opportunity to be representing the fern under New Zealand Team Black at Tri Series this year. Being in a team environment and racing for not only your country, but also your team mates is something truly unique to this meet. We're looking forward to the racing ahead and enjoying the strong competition and summery weather!"

Millie Bell echoed their sentiment, captaining Team White for the second consecutive year.

"I'm super excited to represent the silver fern, and can't wait to get out there and race! It's always an honour to wear the New Zealand colours, and I'm looking forward to competing alongside the team."

The teams are putting the finishing touches on their preparations ahead of Wednesday's opening races. During the team camp, they've connected with their Australian counterparts through a shared dinner and quiz night. One of the highlights has been a visit to Nganjarli (Deep Gorge) in Murujuga National Park, where they viewed rock art dating back as far as 50,000 years and learned more about the history and culture of the Ngarluma Country and First Nations people of the region.

Tri Series Head Coach Carl Gordon reflected on the team's preparations ahead of competition.

"The team have come together well, supporting each other on the long trip over. We are all really excited to get started with the racing. We had a good preparation swim in the pool this morning and are looking forward to refining skills this afternoon with relay changeovers."

Racing begins on Wednesday afternoon, with both New Zealand teams aiming to build on last year's experience and challenge for Tri Series honours. Best of luck to all swimmers and coaches representing New Zealand. Go Kiwis!

2026 Tri Series Teams

Overall Support Staff

Name	Club	Role
Carl Gordon	Wharenui	Head Coach
Brigitte Mahan	North Canterbury	Team Manager & Assistant Coach

Team Black

Name	Club	Coach	Role
Ben Lavigne	Tawa		Team Black Coach
Wilrich Coetzee	Coast		Team Black Coach
Lucas Bell	Wharenui	Carl Gordon	Swimmer
Declan Broadfoot	Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika	Chris Paproski	Swimmer
Charlie Dickison	Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika	Chris Paproski	Swimmer
Londyn Dillinger	Murihiku	Madison Wills	Swimmer
Tandia Fisher	Wharenui	Carl Gordon	Swimmer
Chloe Gladwin	United	Mason Pickering	Swimmer
Orlando Hardie	Hamilton Aquatics	Mat Woofe	Swimmer
Jonty Howland	Dannevirke	Lin Tozer	Swimmer
Connor Jenkins	Wharenui	Carl Gordon	Swimmer
April Lin	Phoenix Aquatics	David Lyles	Swimmer
Nicola Lovell	Blenheim	Shane Skehan	Swimmer
Jade Lyles	Phoenix Aquatics	David Lyles	Swimmer
Holli Macdonald	Hamilton Aquatics	Mat Woofe	Swimmer
Alex McIntosh	United	Andy McMillan	Swimmer
Laura Menzies	Wharenui	Carl Gordon	Swimmer
Alanna Rawson	St Peter's	Alastair Johnson	Swimmer
Neo Salomonsson	Kiwi & Swim Dunedin	Lars Humer	Swimmer
Alfie Weatherston Harvey	Kiwi & Swim Dunedin	Lars Humer	Swimmer
Soeren Wells	Wharenui	Carl Gordon	Swimmer
Nathaniel Wood	Porirua City Aquatics	Justin Roberts	Swimmer

Team White

Name	Club	Coach	Role
Kirsty Johnson	Trojans		Team White Coach
Chris Paproski	Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika		Team White Coach
Roman Anderson	Tawa	Ben Lavigne	Swimmer
Millie Bell	North Canterbury	Brigitte Mahan	Swimmer
Jenna Borea	Jasi	Peter Burgon	Swimmer
Kezia Buissinne	North Shore	Michelle Gillies / Graham Hill	Swimmer
Hana Carnie	Wanaka	Erika Ikeda	Swimmer
Alex Copocean	St Paul's	Graham Smith	Swimmer
Mitch Ellis	Liz van Welie Aquatics	Matt Teokotai-White	Swimmer
Sheldon Hogan	Mount Maunganui	Stan Teokotai-White	Swimmer
Grace Jeromson	North Shore	Sandra Burrow	Swimmer
Daniel Kregting	Roskill	Josh Munro	Swimmer
Thomas Magill	Papamoa	Stan Teokotai-White	Swimmer
Octavia Mahoney	United	Andy McMillan	Swimmer
Luke Manderson	Wharenui	Carl Gordon	Swimmer
Preston Maxwell	Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika	Chris Paproski	Swimmer
Phoebe Nettle	Trojans	Kirsty Johnson	Swimmer
Quinn Pike	Hamilton Aquatics	Alison Fitch	Swimmer
Sam Skidmore	Trojans	Kirsty Johnson	Swimmer
Neo Urlich	St Paul's	Graham Smith	Swimmer
Summer Vincent	Dannevirke	Lin Tozer	Swimmer
Kiri Yamagami	United	Mitch Nairn	Swimmer