Not so long ago, Poplar was an endurance open-water swimmer.
Poplar got into open-water swimming in 2007 when she saw a flyer advertising the 3km Stert Island Swim. She was living in the United Kingdom at the time.
The event was cancelled that year due to bad weather, but after that, she went back every year to do the swim.
From there, the open-water swim distances kept increasing.
In 2015, Poplar “managed to squeeze in” the 33km English Channel swim before immigrating to New Zealand.
Once in New Zealand and living out at Taurikura Bay, Poplar wondered, ‘Where are all the swimmers?’
She started a small group at the pool, but to begin with, it did not take off.
Then in 2018, Poplar and Greta Buchanan sat in a local Thai restaurant to map out what is now the Northland Open Water Swimming Association.
Today, there is an active open-water swimming community around Whangārei, adding to the already-established Tūtūkākā Ocean Group Swimmers.
The same year, Poplar had her name down with the safety crew who organise the swim across the Cook Strait.
Poplar trained to swim the crossing, but with a lot of international swimmers booked in, she was not given an opportunity to do so.
The same happened in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Poplar changed her tack.
“I would have trained for four years and not even have got in the water.”
She pulled out all her contacts and got her own support crew together.
On March 23, 2021, Poplar finally swam the Cook Strait in an unconventional direction, reversing the usual route to go from Picton to Wellington. Having her friends supporting her, though, made the experience “so much more meaningful”.
After finally swimming the Cook Strait it was time for Poplar to find another sport, which was what led her to triathlon.
Encouraged by her friend, Jane Young, she did her first half-Ironman in January 2022.
Later that year, in December, she did her first full-distance Ironman at the IronMāori Toa in Napier.
Poplar was then baited into racing the Ironman New Zealand by another Whangārei local, Pieter Serfontein.
At the Awards and Roll Down Ceremony, where Ironman World Championship slots are awarded following Ironman New Zealand, it was announced both Poplar and Barach had secured spots.
“I was beside myself,” Poplar said, because she knew what it meant for the people she had been training with.
Poplar is incredibly grateful for the support she has received from her family and friends.
To prepare for the world championship, she has collated tips from other local triathletes to help her acclimatise to the heat - including advice from Barach’s mum, Oringa Barach, who has previously competed at Kona.
“After 15 years of cold water acclimatising, now I have to do a complete about-turn and acclimatise to running in 30-degree heat.”
Just like Poplar, Barach also comes from a swimming background.
Barach grew up swimming at a young age in Whangārei. While she was studying at university in Dunedin and Invercargill, Barach took up cycling and running.
Motivated by her parents’ example, in 2011 Barach followed in their footsteps and raced her first Ironman New Zealand. Her parents, Brian and Oringa, are stalwarts of triathlon in Whangārei.
In the time since, she has competed in 11 Ironman events in Taupō.
To do so has required a massive commitment on her behalf. In the weeks leading up to the event, she trains well over 20 hours a week while also working.
This has made her recent performance at Taupō even more momentous, because “it means a lot of hard work has paid off”.
“It is quite overwhelming,” said Barach.
Although she does not feel inspirational, she knows for up-and-comers it will be inspiring. To her, “that means a lot”.
The Ironman World Championship will be held on October 14.
Kona has been the home of the Ironman World Championship since it was first held in 1981.
This year, Kona will only host the world’s best female professional and age group triathletes.
Their male counterparts will race on September 10 in Nice, France, in a major change for the event.
