A whopping 28 records – that’s how many Alex Wilton has broken during his time at Ōpōtiki College, excelling in swimming, cross country and triathlon.

Perhaps the most significant, and the record that his topped off his time at the school, is the senior boys’ triathlon record.

With this record having haunted him for a while, breaking it because his final goal.

And he smashed it – breaking the 2010 record set by Gareth Owen by more than five minutes.

Owen’s time was 49.17 while Alex stormed home in 44 minutes and 11 seconds.
It capped off an outstanding all-round season for the 17-year-old, academically and in various sporting arenas.

Triathlon is his main sporting love and Alex was pleased to claim this record before leaving.

“I am very happy to end high school with one more record and because now I have broken as many school records as Michael Phelps has Olympic medals - 28.”
Alex was pleased with his performance in the triathlon.

“All of my records have been won by large margins. Also, in this race I knew I was going fast, I was having fun, and I felt great physically so that motivated me a bit to keep my foot on the gas.”

“This record and my first one (200 metres junior boy’s freestyle in 2020) are my favourites. “The first one because I remember the immense feeling of joy, I got from having heard that I'd broken a record for the first time, and this one because I broke it knowing it will be the last record.

“Also, it was the biggest margin and it's the sport that I mainly compete in and want to make a career out of moving forward.”

His sporting success saw Alex named Ōpōtiki College’s allround sportsman for the third consecutive year and claim a swag of trophies at the recent prizeiving.

He also got top in calculus, top in outdoor education, top in innovation and design, triathlete of the year, multisport athlete of the year, allround sportsman of the year and BOP education trust scholarship. I am happy with how my time at Ōpōtiki has finished.

In December and January, he has a couple of half ironmans coming up, which will be a good challenge for him.

He said it had been a great year for himself at Ōpōtiki College and he was confident most of his records would last for some time.

He also competed in his first standard Triathlon at the Mount Tinman in November where he placed second in the under-19 grade, which helped him qualify for the World Championship in October 2025, in Wollongong, Australia.