Claire Michel has taught the Dingles well – when she comes to stay, don’t expect leftovers.
“I’m always like ‘you guys serve yourselves first cause I eat like a teenage boy’,” laughs the well-performed Belgian triathlete.
“They cook wonderful food, and it’s great to come back after a long day of training and have a wonderful dinner on the table. So I’m like ‘get what you need first, cause I’m like a vacuum cleaner’.”
Claire is in New Plymouth for this Sunday’s (26 March) World Triathlon Cup, the marquee event of the Tri Taranaki Festival.
It will be the first time since 2019 that the world’s elite triathletes have taken on the popular Port Taranaki-based course, with COVID-19 having cancelled the past three World Cup events.
Claire has been a regular to New Plymouth since 2014 and, like a number of the elite athletes over the years, has experienced some local hospitality as a guest of a Taranaki family.
The Dingles – Ross, Jane and their three now-adult children – have been Claire’s long-time homestay family, and she credits them for a lot of her success at the New Plymouth event, which has included third placings in 2017 and 2018.
“It’s my favourite place on the circuit – the community is super-welcoming and really willing to embrace the athletes,” says the 34-year-old, who arrived on 8 March and has been training up to three times a day in the lead-up to this weekend’s race.
“Homestays are rare, I don’t know if any other stop on the circuit has them, but they make a huge difference.
“Because we spend a lot of time moving from country to country and hotel to hotel, it’s just the small things of a homestay – being able to do laundry, cook, lay on the couch, or watch TV together after dinner.
“It’s the experiences too – I tried feijoas for the first time, which was something I’d never even heard of before!
“The Dingles really take me in as one of their own and I immediately feel at home.”
Ross has been the event’s homestay coordinator for a number of years and, as Port Taranaki head of commercial, has a dual interest in the event.
This year he has placed 13 athletes from 10 countries with nine New Plymouth homestay families, including English triathlete Ben Dijkstra, who is staying with Port Taranaki chief executive Simon Craddock.
“The World Cup is a fantastic world-class event, and it’s fabulous the community really gets behind it and gets to see these elite athletes in action,” Ross says.
“From Port Taranaki’s perspective, we’re really proud to be able to host it down here at Ngāmotu Beach and the port area, and it’s great that World Triathlon and Tri Taranaki Festival are keen to come back every year.”
Ross says having international athletes in his home has been rewarding for the whole family.
“We’ve been helping out for almost 10 years and it’s been great fun. Over the years we’ve had Claire and a number of other athletes from different countries stay, so you get different languages, accents, and backgrounds,” he says.
“I’ve always found the triathletes to be really positive people, and it’s nice to have that enthusiasm around the house. The kids have really enjoyed spending time with them and a little bit of that enthusiasm and positivity has brushed off on them.”
Ross says Claire is “just like part of the family”.
“She’s a great housemate – she helps around the house, eats what we eat, and fits in really well. We just expect Claire to turn up every year!”
Now in race mode and with vital Paris Olympics 2024 qualifying points up for grabs, Claire is looking forward to Sunday’s race.
“It’s a good honest course and you never know what you’re going to get in terms of the conditions – it could be sunny, windy or rainy – so it will be a fun day.”
The Tri Taranaki Festival starts at 8am on Sunday, with the World Cup elite women’s race at 11am and the World Cup elite men’s race at 1.30pm.
