My Africa Champs "adventure"

The past weekend we headed to Mauritius for the Africa Triathlon Championships. I have been there once before for the African Cup end of last year, the place was amazing and I was really happy to go back to the island. Once we got to the hotel, it was just as beautiful as I remembered it. I was sharing a room with Wian Sullwald, my friend and training partner, with whom I stay in Pretoria. We decided to go cycle the next day to the race venue and check out the route.

Next morning we did our cycling and I was really feeling good on the bike. I thought this was going to be one of my better races. It was eventually, but…. it had a BIG twist before I could race. Whilst cycling the route and going down the downhill, we had to take a sharp left turn and there it happened - I hit a car at 40km/h which just suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. I just remember that I didn’t want to fall, so I grabbed on to the car’s spoiler and hung on for dear life. After a few seconds I let go and my head was spinning and wanted to explode. I looked at my bike and saw it was shattered, broken beyond repair. I wanted to cry!!!! Immediately, my friends that cycled with me, Wian, Wikus, Eddie and Hendrik told the guy that it was his fault.

After checking if I am fine, the guy took me to the hotel and after that to the police station. While we were on our way to the police station, my mom, coach and Wian’s mom arranged with my brother fly to Mauritius and bring his bike for the race the next day. His reaction only was: “o, ok cool”. I still don’t know how they managed all arrangements, from the time Lindsey first contacted my mom, till my brother was at the airport ready to fly, in under 3 hours. At that time I didn’t know how badly my arms were bruised but all that I know is that I wanted to race so badly. I was ready to race, or compete depending on how my arms felt in the swim. For the rest of the day, I was applying ice to my arms and having anti-inflammatory tablets. My brother arrived at about 9 that evening and we assembled his bike and I was ready to rock and roll.

The race morning my arms were as stiff as logs and I was really unsure about how on earth I am going to race. I went for a short swim to loosen up my arms and it felt better after that, so I had a bite of hope left. At the race venue, I did a long swim warm up and just before the start of the swim I told myself that it will only be a few minutes of pain then my arms can rest for the rest of the race. The swim start was frantic and I could feel my arms wanting to explode. I had a goodish swim in the end but my arms were dead. I made a silly mistake in transition lost the pack, but Hendrik and I started to chase the front guys. Half way through the cycle I dropped Hendrik, but Travis caught up to me and we cycled well to the end.

I knew the front guys were far ahead and I needed to have a super run on the day. I went out of T2 and thought well I am behind so if I blow up on the run it will be fine. I started out on the run like a bat out of hell and gunned it to the finish. In the end I came 5th elite and 1st U/23 Elite. I was physically and emotionally drained. My whole body was screaming of pain but it was worth it.

After the race all of us got into holiday mode and chilled till we needed to go home. The next morning my head still wanted to explode because of the pain so I went to the doctor who confirmed that I had concussion, but it wasn’t too serious.

This trip was full of surprises and unexpected events. But if it wasn’t for my mom, dad, brother, coach and everyone else who helped me to race and perform well, all of this wouldn’t have been possible.

Cheers
Rudolf