The women's professional race at the 2023 Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand looks set to be hotly contested this Saturday, as reigning champion Hannah Berry looks to hold off strong challengers.

The race will have a real international feel to it, with half of the women competing for the title from overseas countries – including the Netherlands, United States, Canada, and Japan.

Hannah Berry, formerly Hannah Wells, is the reigning Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand champion and has been focusing all her training efforts over the past few months on defending her title.

'I'm feeling really good and am really looking forward to racing. I've had a very smooth lead into this race, I actually think I have done every session as planned over the last couple of months without any interruption. So I am going into this one feeling as though I have done all I can over the last block to arrive on the start line in the best shape I can at the moment,” says Berry.

'It would mean so much (to win again at Ironman New Zealand). This is the race I have been focusing on all summer, to the point of prioritising Ironman training over getting good tapers in for the half's I've done leading into Ironman New Zealand. As a result, I feel like I haven't performed to my potential in the last couple of races I have done. To produce a good day at Ironman New Zealand would mean so much and would be a huge boost for the rest of the year ahead.”

The 2023 Ironman New Zealand will only be Berry's third time racing over the full distance, her first being the title she won at the event in 2021, and the second Ironman Florida the same year, where she finished a respectable fifth amongst a strong field of seasoned international pros.

'It's always an honour to have the opportunity to defend a title, so I am going to appreciate being in this position and use it as motivation on the day. This is going to be only my third full distance race ever, so I am still quite new to the distance actually. But I am feeling confident that I have learned a lot from my first two full distance races and am in a good position to produce my best performance yet at the full distance,” she says.

Over the past couple of years, the 32-year-old from Tauranga has been used to racing familiar faces at New Zealand events, so is excited to see some new names on the start list and hopes it will make for close and interesting race.

'I am stoked to have some new people to race here in New Zealand. I'm expecting a close race at the front of the women's race, but other than that I will just be focusing on my race and numbers,” says Berry.

'Winning is of course a goal, however I think success is more than that. If I can produce a good race and improve on my previous full distance performances, then that is a success regardless of the result. Also, I just want to feel like I've performed the best I can and left everything out there.”

Second seeded female and a serious threat to Berry's title defence is Dutch athlete Els Visser. The 32-year-old heads into Saturday's race full of confidence off the back of a second-place finish in December at the 2022 GWM IRONMAN Western Australia in Busselton, which also qualified her for the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Els Visser (NLD) finished second at the 2022 GWM IRONMAN Western Australia. Photo: Korupt Vision.

Visser has also claimed a number of other notable results including the 2018 IRONMAN Netherlands title and second at the 2022 IRONMAN Lanzarote.

'I was super pleased with the performance I had in Busselton, it was our first aim of course to have a good performance, second also to qualify for Kona so I was really happy to get my spot,” says Visser.

'It was the first Ironman where I felt pretty strong at the end of the marathon and I didn't really drop in my pace and I could even accelerate my pace in the last couple of ks, and I was just really happy to finish the season with that race and it gave me a lot of confidence for this season.”

Having already qualified for the 2023 Ironman World Championship, Visser says some of the pressure of racing her debut Ironman New Zealand has been lifted.

'It definitely takes a pressure off. I can completely go in free and just give my best without any pressure and maybe I will race a bit different, but I have to discuss it with my coach, and just go out on course and have fun and enjoy being out there,” she says.

'I'm just really impressed by this country and the nature and just the friendliness of all the people, I'm really excited about the race. I think there will be so much support along the course and it's really a sport that lives here in New Zealand. So, yeah, I just look forward to giving my best and do my best of the three disciplines and have to battle with myself, with the other girls, and the elements here of the nature, so, yeah, I'm excited.”

New Zealand is a bucket list destination for Visser for two main reasons, the first being the beauty of the natural environment, and the second because of an encounter with a Kiwi woman, Gaylene, nine years ago, an experience that was both terrifying and life changing.

In 2014, Visser and 25 other passengers were shipwrecked in Indonesia in the middle of the night. Instead of waiting to be rescued, she and Gaylene swam for eight hours to a nearby uninhabited island where they slept for the night before being rescued by a passing boat the next day – the moment Visser says her second life started.

Visser will reunite with Gaylene after Ironman New Zealand in her hometown of Nelson, the first time the two will meet again since that night in Indonesia.

'I don't really know how I will react to seeing her, but I'm really looking forward to seeing her. Of course, she has like a super special place in my heart and I'm also pretty sure that it will be emotional meeting up again. But in the meantime, I'm really excited to get to know her as a person as well, because in the end, I only knew her for two days in a completely different setting where we were in such a different state of mind,” says Visser.

Five-time Ironman New Zealand champion Meredith Kessler is a name that has become synonymous with the event in recent years.

Meredith Kessler (USA) is a five-time IRONMAN New Zealand champion. Photo: Delly Carr.

The American will be making her ninth start in Taupō on Saturday, a race that has brought her much success – she won the title consecutively between 2012 and 2016, finished second in 2020 and third in 2017 and 2019.

Kessler hasn't been back to Taupō since 2020, and says she couldn't be more excited to return to her ‘second home'.

'I am like a giddy little kid getting excited to be back to our absolute favourite haven of a place. A place where my mind is always right, and my body follows. It means a great deal to have the luxury and privilege of racing amongst such greatness, beauty and support. The amazing town of Taupō truly embraces the race and everything that it emulates – I feel beyond fortunate for the opportunity to be back,” says Kessler.

'I love this course, from the weather, to the town, the people, the country, the terrain, and everything in between. It has always felt like our second home to us so there is a level of comfortableness and familiarity associated with IRONMAN New Zealand.”

Kessler heads into Saturday's event five-months post-partum after giving birth to her second son, Crew last year.

'I took the time needed to heal from that at the front-end post-birth and really relished in the sacred newborn time with Crew. Six weeks after I had Crew, I decided to home in on the journey back to fitness and a return to the race course, at 44 years old too no less. Let's do this,” she says.

'We didn't think that return would begin at Ironman New Zealand, so close to having just had a baby. Though, I was fortunate to return at five months post having our first son, Mak, and I will try it again with Crew. I feel like the work that I maintained while Crew was in my belly, the recovery after and the push towards getting back, all aided in allowing me to invest in coming back more quickly and I wanted to seize the opportunity while I still could – especially at my favourite race – and place – on the Ironman circuit.”

Whatever happens on race day, Kessler feels grateful to be back racing, and especially in Taupō – a place she holds dear.

'It is important for all the athletes that toe the line of any race to really recognize the privilege of getting to do what we get to do. We get to race Ironman New Zealand this weekend so that in itself is as rewarding as it gets. We are always aiming to put together a solid race, hopefully being in the form I was striving for before pregnancy.

'To have the privilege of winning Ironman New Zealand for a sixth time would genuinely be something that I would never take for granted. I am focused more on delivering the best race that I can muster during this time in my life and see where the chips fall. I feel like the victory already is getting to the start line of this race,” says Kessler.

Rebecca Clarke is another athlete likely to be challenging for the win throughout the race on Saturday. The Aucklander finished second at the 2021 Ironman New Zealand and last year she finished second at Ironman Australia, made her Ironman World Championship debut, placing 17th, and rounded out the year with third at IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand in December.