Orange Triathlon Club - The Piranhas

20/06/2026

Are you ready for a winter dip?? Tomorrow 21/06/0226 is the Orange Winter Solstice Plunge - meet at 12:30pm at Gosling Creek.

The Orange Winter Solstice Plunge is a low-key community gathering for anyone keen to do something a little cold and uncomfortable together.

Possibly Australia’s highest solstice plunge* and almost certainly one of the coldest.

(*Probably. We haven’t checked.)

And yes - swimmers, wetsuits and clothes are absolutely encouraged.

On Sunday 21 June, we’ll meet at Gosling Creek Reserve (patch of sand) for a quick cold-water plunge, followed by hot soup, bread rolls, and good company.

The plunge itself usually lasts somewhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes (5 minutes if you’re trying to prove something).

This event is free to attend, with optional donations supporting Lifeline Central West’s mental health and su***de prevention work across regional communities.

Why do it?

Because sometimes getting uncomfortable together can actually be good for you.

Cold water, fresh air, mates, laughter, and showing up, sometimes that’s exactly what mental health looks like.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
• A quick winter plunge at Gosling Creek Dam
• Hot soup and bread rolls provided afterwards
• A relaxed, welcoming atmosphere
• A bunch of locals voluntarily making questionable decisions together

EVENT DETAILS:

Gosling Creek Dam (meet at patch of sand)

Sunday 21 June 2026

Meet from 12:30pm

Plunge at 1:00pm

Please note:
Gosling Creek Reserve has reopened as the water quality monitoring has found algae levels are now safe.

If organisers determine that Gosling Creek is unsuitable for the plunge, the event location will move to Lake Canobolas and all registered attendees will be notified in due course via email and event updates.

Bring:
• Swimmers or an outfit
• Water shoes and a towel
• Warm clothes for afterwards
• Dry shoes
• Your mates

Please note:
Participation in the plunge is entirely voluntary and at your own risk. This is a community event and conditions on the day may vary.

03/06/2026

Exciting news for the upcoming season. The Central West Interclub Series has already started the planning process and the events are coming together.
We want to see how many of our members can get to all 4 Interclub events and be potentially be our club’s MVP plus go into the draw for a Canberra 100 entry for 2027.
The Central West presidents met recently to ensure these events remained FREE for our CW
Club members - adding more value to your 2026/27 club memberships.
(There may be a pool entry fee for the Bathurst Interclub - to keep the event costs down but the race entry will be free).

03/06/2026

Gosling Creek has had its Blue Green Algae alert lifted - in time for the Orange Winter Solstice Swim on 21/6 at 1pm. Check out the details in the coming post.

💦Gosling Creek Reserve has reopened for swimming and water activities.

The dam was closed last month due to unsafe levels of blue-green algae. Water quality monitoring at the dam has found algae levels are now safe.

Routine testing will continue and users will be advised of any change as new results are received.

Water users should be aware of the risks associated with entering any waterway in NSW. These waters are untreated, their quality is unknown and conditions can change rapidly. Always exercise caution and assess the risks.

01/06/2026

Congratulations to Cas Ingham on being awarded the Life Members Appreciation Award last season. Cas could not be at the Presentation afternoon recently due to volunteering with Blaze Aid in Victoria, repairing fences damaged by fire. Well done Cas and great work with BlazeAid. 🙌

19/05/2026

🎉 CLUB PRESENTATION AWARDS 🎉

It was wonderful to see so many members and their families attend our Presentation Awards on Sunday afternoon at Waratah Sports Club. The event was also a chance to recognise and thank those who have been members of the Orange Triathlon Club for more than 10 years for their ongoing dedication to both the club and the sport.

Our annual award recipients were:
• Central West All Schools Development Shield: Kinross Wolaroi
• Female Club Champion: Julie Middleton
• Male Club Champion: Bryce Morley
• Most Improved Female: Kate Thornton
• Most Improved Male: Will Robinson
• Junior Female Encouragement Award: Tilly Thornton
• Junior Male Encouragement Award: Henry Kay
• Club Person of the Year: Megan Goodwin
• Family Award: The Bayada Family
• Best Performance of the Year: Josiah Dirs
• Life Members Encouragement Award: Cas Ingham
• Central West Interclub Championship Winners: Orange Triathlon Club

Congratulations to all of our members who participated, volunteered and contributed throughout the season to help deliver safe, enjoyable and successful events.

We thank everyone for another fantastic season and look forward to welcoming you back for the 2026/27 season.

15/05/2026

Just a heads up for our members - Gosling Creek has had another blue green algae detection which means no swimming or water activities until the levels return to normal.

Blue-green algae Red Alert for Gosling Creek 📣

Swimming and water activities have been temporarily banned at Gosling Creek Reserve after a Red Alert warning was issued for unsafe levels of blue-green algae.

People should avoid any contact with water from the dam until the red alert warning is lifted.

Contact with the algae can be harmful to your health and may cause skin and eye irritations, nausea and vomiting.

Pets and livestock should also be prevented from entering or drinking the water.

06/05/2026

🏅CLUB PRESENTATION AWARDS 🏅

Sunday 17 May at 4pm at Waratahs Sports Club.
Finger food and drinks provided by the club.
Please indicate in the comments if you are able to come along.

02/05/2026

Good Luck to all the Orange Piranhas racing at Western Sydney 70.3 today. Have a fantastic event. 🏊‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏃‍♂️💨

21/04/2026

🚨 JOIN THE TEAM THAT KEEPS THE CLUB MOVING 🚨

Hey OTC Members 👋

As we head into planning for the new season, we’re looking to grow our committee and would love more members to get involved behind the scenes—particularly in general committee roles. Our goal is to build a team of around 10 people so the workload can be shared more evenly.

Our club runs on the energy and commitment of volunteers, and a strong committee makes a real difference to everything we do—from races and events to training and socials. At the moment, our current committee has been carrying a heavy load and is starting to feel stretched, so bringing in a few more people will help keep things running smoothly for everyone.

The good news is that being a general committee member isn’t as daunting or time-consuming as it might sound. With just one Teams meeting per month and shared responsibilities, it’s a manageable way to contribute. It’s also a great opportunity to have a say in the direction of the club, build connections, and give back to the sport we all enjoy.

There are plenty of ways to get involved, such as managing website content, running our Facebook and Instagram accounts, taking photos on race days, registering events with Tri Australia, applying for grants, course set up or helping with marshalling points and transition on race mornings.

If you’ve ever thought about getting more involved, now’s a great time—even a small contribution goes a long way, and you’ll have plenty of support from the team.

Importantly, age is no barrier—we’d love to see some of our junior members get involved too. Fresh ideas and different perspectives make our club stronger, and everyone is welcome. For students needing volunteer hours for school leadership programs, it’s also a great way to contribute while ticking those off.

If you’re interested or just want to learn more, feel free to reach out—happy to chat! 🙌

Let’s make this season even stronger together 💪

03/04/2026

Husky Triathlon 28/3/2026 - Wrapup

The Elite Energy team always put on a fantastic event at Huskisson and this year for their 21st Anniversary was no exception.

Whilst we had a dusting of snow and extremely chilly winds in Orange last Friday some of our local Piranhas headed to the coast. Everyone arrived in Husky on Friday afternoon to torrential rain and gail force winds. Not ideal race conditions at all for Saturdays races but not unexpected if Team Thornton are in town it seems 🤣 It was hard to believe the weather was going to settle down by the morning.

They awoke at 5.30 am for the first race of the day to hear that the swim for all events were cancelled which was disappointing but when they reached the beach they could see why. It was a king tide with the water up to the grass areas. There was 6 life boats sitting on the grass overnight which got washed all the way to Callala beach and the motors got washed off the boats!! They lost one totally but were able to retrieve the others. The conditions were rough and the water quality poor, so the Puranhas were pleased with the decision to cancel the swims 🤣🤣. This meant it was a rolling bike start for each race going off in 2 x 2’s. It took forever to get the large numbers of each race out onto the course and made the bike course very congested for the all the races.

A huge Congratulations to our triathletes. Lots of podiums and well earned results. Well done all 🙌
First up was the Sprint
🥇Josiah Dirs had a blistering finish time of 00:51:22. Not only was Jos first in his age group and first male home - he was 1st home overall from over 1000 competitors.
5th - Flynn Thornton finished 5th in his AG in a time of 1:00:46.
14th Adrian Thearle was happy with his race splits and finished 14th in the Clydesdales in 1:10:03.
The next event was the Super Sprint
🥇Kate Thornton was 1st in her AG and 9th female overall in a time 00:27:20, crossing just 6 seconds before her daughter Tilly.
🥈Tilly Thornton came 2nd in her AG and 11th overall in a great time of 00:27:26.
4th Stephen Haberecht finished close behind in 00:27:54 to just miss out on his AG podium.
8th Liesel Haberecht finished in 00:30:35 and was 8th in her AG.
A late 12:45pm start for the Aquabike event allowed Kate to race the SS, attend the presentation and backup for what turned out to be a 60km bike race (without the swim leg) with husband Greg.
Aquabike results
🥉Kate Thornton finished in 1:59:19 for 3rd in her AG and 9th overall in the Females.
13th Greg Thornton overcame a pre race injury to finish just behind Kate in 2:02:10.

The Thornton’s love Husky and were kind enough to share a few race recaps

Kate - We all had another awesome weekend in Husky. I was very happy with my Super Sprint race and was pleased to know I still have some good speed over the short distance on the back of all my long distance endurance training. The Aquabike ride was a great 2 lap course. I absolutely loved the ride and felt very strong despite the strong winds. Can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Greg:- My Aquabike race went well. I nearly didn’t get to the start line as I’ve been managing an injury that flared up before the race but some rest and stretching saw me start. Once on the course I tried to keep power and heartrate under control for the first lap I got into a rhythm in the second lap and ticked off the kms. I really wished that I had more than a banana before my race as my fuel was getting low and I was slamming down the gels and water to make the last few kms. Overall I was happy with the race as I wasn’t even sure I’d make the start line. Emo and the elite energy team always put on a good race even when Mother Nature throughs up some challenges.

Flynn:- Coming off the back of fairly little training due to injury I am very happy with how I went. The bike leg went really well even with it being really congested and I set a new pb. At the end of the bike I started to cramp pretty badly but managed to push through it on the run and still get a sub 20 which I was very happy. Overall a very unique and fun race.

Tilly:- Race went well, bit disappointing with no swim. Happy with bike and run having to get around such an overcrowded course.

Well done Orange Piranhas. It’s always pleasing to see our club members reaping the rewards of their season and enjoying these big events. 👏