Aussie Wrap: New Dad Kibby Leads Local Charge In Taupo Tide

While Jelle Geens was busy rewriting the record books up front, there was another story brewing in the Aussie ranks that deserves more than just a footnote. Melbourne's Mitch Kibby wasn't just racing against the world's best - he was racing against his body clock, having welcomed his first bubba to the world just seven days earlier.

Talk about cutting it fine. While most blokes were doing their final race prep, Kibby was still hanging around the maternity ward. He literally grabbed the last possible flight to Taupo on Friday night, probably still with that new-dad glow and definitely running on nothing but caffeine and adrenaline.

Yet somehow, the Victorian pulled together a 3:47:18 to lead the Green and Gold charge in 23rd. "I had to really dig into the bag of tricks," Kibby admitted post-race, in what might be the understatement of the day. The swim wasn't exactly firing - his words were "a little bit flat."

Despite not knowing the bike course (remember that last-minute flight?), Kibby managed to find his rhythm after losing touch with the front group. The run? Pure survival mode, but with enough smarts to keep something in the tank for lap two. Classic veteran move, that.

Josh Amberger, meanwhile, was doing Josh Amberger things. Second-fastest swim of the day (only Greg Harper went quicker), right in the mix early on the bike, and then engaging in what has to be the most unnecessary sprint finish of the day with Kibby for 24th. These boys, honestly - 70.3 miles wasn't enough, they had to race to the line.

The world champs debut crew had their own stories to tell. Kurt McDonald's day was a proper welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment. After throwing down a sub-2 hour bike split (welcome to world champs mate), his quads decided to have a yarn with him in T2. "I cramped on the dismount line," he shared, but still managed to tough out 25th place. That's the kind of grit you can't teach.

The rest of the contingent - Caleb Noble (27th), Nicholas Free (37th) and Calvin Amos (39th) - rounded out what turned out to be a solid if not spectacular day for the Aussies. No podiums this time around but plenty of lessons banked for next year.

For Kibby, though, this one was special. Second year running as top Aussie, but more importantly, first race as a dad. "I was racing today for Tahlia and little Sylvie," he beamed at the finish. Wonder what the night feeds are going to feel like after this effort?

And while the headlines will rightly focus on Geens' record-breaking run and Wilde's hometown heroics, somewhere in Melbourne there's a one-week-old who probably couldn't care less about split times and finishing positions. But one day, little Sylvie's going to have one hell of a story about her old man's first week on the job.