I was invited to compete in a triathlon in Brazil together with my friends Wian
and Wikus. This was no ordinary triathlon, it was a super sprint. The format
was as follows: 3 heats comprising of 200m swim, 3.6km cycle and 1km run with
about 10 min rest between the heats. All athletes have to race all the heats.
Teams consisted of 3 athletes and 6 countries was taking part.
The travelling was long but manageable, we travelled to Sao
Paulo and then to Rio followed by
a 3hrs bus trip to the hotel. We were quite tired so sleeping the first night was
easy.
The next day we went for a cycle and explored a bit of the country side,
it was really beautiful, the sea was blue and the sand was white, it was like
paradise. It was really warm during the time we were there so we thought
swimming in the sea will be nice and cool. Unfortunately the sea was a bit too
cool, it was close to freezing temperature for us. We knew that was going to be
a bit of a challenge in the race, but since the swim was so short, we realised
that it wasn't too bad. On race day we will just have to swim fast to get out
of the cold water.
On race day we didn't know what to expect. We have never done races in
this format before. But we were determined to do well. During the first heat,
the swim was a shock to the system and the run from the sea to T1 felt like
miles. The American Zaferes got a gap on all the athletes as result of a huge
wave assisting him. On the bike Wikus
and I rode well together in the first bunch, but the American Zaferes lapped all
of the athletes so only he got points. The bike laps was only 600m.
In the second heat I had a good swim, but my transition wasn't to great
and I missed the front pack. I was in the 2nd pack and I saw Zaferes was
catching us again. Wian and Wikus was in the front pack so I thought if I
slowed down the group and Zaferes catches us then we would be the only country having
two athletes to get points. But he didn’t lap us so everyone got points and it
was down to the last race to see who would podium.
Everyone was giving it all in the swim and the cycle was pretty much
bunched up together, it came down to the run and everyone was tired. Our team
ended up in 3rd place. We were happy with it but we knew we made mistakes that
cost us the win. This has been an amazing journey seeing Brazil and
getting to know new people. The county is amazing and the people are friendly.
Thank you to everyone making this trip a reality.
My next race will be national championships in 3 weeks time.
Until then
Cheers
Rudolf
