Africa Triathlon Championships – Maputo

The race weekend started early as we left home at 5:30 on Friday heading to OR Tambo Airport. We checked in and while waiting for boarding, we met the Sullwalds and had a quick cup of coffee. Once the plain took off, I thought I could sleep a bit, but I was wrong - the pilot seemed to dodge potholes in the air, so it was kind of a roller-coaster ride/flight.

After arriving, we had to negotiate which shuttle to take and then headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Southern Sun Maputo, which was also the host hotel for the event.

The Host Hotel

We enjoyed a cup of coffee before checking into the rooms. After we unpacked, Wian and I went out for a bike ride. Because we are unfamiliar with the surroundings, we decided to take to the road next to the sea and it paid off, we didn’t get lost and we managed to get in a good ride. Later the afternoon, we had a short swim in the sea and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Wian, Rudolf

On Saturday morning we did the course familiarisation and enjoyed a nice breakfast afterwards. Race briefing and registration was at 4 in the afternoon, so I did a quick run before that. After the race briefing we had a pasta party and some time to chat a bit and relax before the race.

The Hotel

On race day we started at 7:30 am. In contrast to the previous day’s perfect weather and calm sea, the wind was pumping and the water was very choppy. The officials weren’t able to anchor one of the buoys as it was pushed out of place by the strong winds. They then decided to reduce the swim to 2 laps out and back – 1200m.

Referee explaining

Swim start

I felt very comfortable and had a really good swim, getting into T1 in the same pack as the race favourites.

Wikus,Rudolf

The bike leg was 8 laps of 5km, with a nasty hill at the start of each lap. Once on the cycle leg, we knew Abrahm was way in front, but there was no real urgency within the bunch. On some laps, the pace on the hill was harder, but no real attacks was performed. This means that the race would be decided on the run…

The flats

My second transition wasn’t good at all and I lost a bit of time there, but I knew the run was 10km long and anything can happen. My running rhythm felt good until somewhere on lap 3 when I started to cramp. For the rest of the run it was damage control and trying not to loose too much time. I finished 3^rd u/23 elite so I’m very happy with that result.

Thanks to everybody that made this event possible. Thanks to all my sponsors and my supporters. This was really and experience!!