Lucky for him thing turned out as he crossed the finish line first on Sunday afternoon (May 7).

Coming from Western Australia, Kappler missed his flight, was close to pulling out, and decided to pay extra to make the trip, only to arrive to a broken bike.

In the end things went to plan, and he nailed his goals, crossing the line in the 70.3 as the first male.

 “The conditions were absolutely perfect. There was a bit of wind, the ocean was flat and it was brilliant for the run. I can’t complain at all,” he said.

“My expectations were high. I wanted to be muscling up there for the top spot. I was unsure with the rolling start, but to be the first male across gives me a lot of confidence.”

He described Port Macquarie 70.3 as a stepping stone for his main goal.

“I had to pull out at Geelong due to sickness, and I was so hungry to get back to racing,” he said.

“This event was a stepping stone for Cairns, which is followed by Hawaii in October which is my ultimate goal where I will be trying to podium there.”

In the female division, it was Sydney’s Laura Brown finishing first.

It was an epic come back from a hip injury that has forced her to sit on the sidelines for 12 months.

“This is my first race back, so my team deserve a lot of credit. I’m a bit overwhelmed now that I’ve finished,” she said.

“This is the first time I’ve done a rolling start and I actually enjoyed it. There wasn’t much of a fight in the water and the conditions were beautiful.

“It’s a great course to ride on with lots of ups and downs. It really tests the legs.”

All she wanted to do was race again, and was grateful to be given the chance.

“It’s one step at a time and I have to make some decisions about what I’m going to do next now that I have made my comeback,” she said.

“I feel like I’ve got the monkey off my back. The course when I was last in Port Macquarie was different and I had some issues with my bike last time around, but today was great to check all the boxes.

“I had expectations on myself coming into the race, just to win my age group and if I was to win overall that would be a bonus.”