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De la Rey and Kotze show what makes them winning Ultra Distance material

De la Rey and Kotze show what makes them winning Ultra Distance material

Seasoned triathlete Adele de la Rey and first-time winner Tyrone Kotze are the undisputed wreath carriers of the 31st Swakopmund triathlon, now known as the Sandman, and hosted by OTB Sport.

De la Rey convincingly demonstrated why she is Namibia’s ruling female triathlete completing the course in 5 hrs 26 minutes. Benita Kasch came in second in 5hrs 32 min with Heidi Burmeister-Nel third in 5 hrs 41 min.

Tyrone Kotze from Swakopmund had his first Ultra Distance win completing the 1.9 km swim, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km run in a time of 4 hrs 41 min. In second place was Danie Joubert and third South African athlete Selaotswe (Quincy) Tlhakuli.

On Sunday morning, 03 December, more than 300 athletes lined up for the gruelling swimming, cycling and running challenge. The favourites were Tyrone Kotze, Herbert Peters, Danie Joubert and some of the older veterans such as Stefan van Doorn and Paul Brinkmann.

There were also athletes from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Germany. The last few years the Sandman has been well supported by the Zimbabweans who make up a sizeable component of the Ultra Distance.

The first event for the day was the Ultra Distance comprising 1.9 km swim, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km run.

Phillip Seidler was first out the water in a record time of 22 minutes 57 seconds. His team mate and former Namibian triathlon record holder Drikus Coetzee, smashed all previous cycling records by completing the 90 km windy course in 2 hrs 14 min. Together with Erich Goeieman, who did the 21 km run in 1 hr 11 min, they completed the course in a record breaking 3 hrs 48 min.

Among the male veterans, Ralph Schick from Germany was first in 5 hrs 19 min with Zimbabwean Dave Gardner second and Roual Spangenberg third. The Master Division was dominated by South Africans Neil Clark and Zach Benade in first and second place and Alex Kirkman from Zimbabwe third.

In the Standard division which comprises a 1.1 km swim, 40 km cycling and 10 km run, Sebastian Pahl came first in 2 hrs 6 min with Herbert Peters second and Luke Brinkmann third.

In the Veteran category the three Brinkmann brothers whitewashed all the other athletes with Paul first, Peter second and Mark third. They also came in 2 nd, 4 th and 5 th in overall positions. The Masters was won by Jean Marais in 2 hrs 22 min with Roelof Pahl second and Richard Tietz third.

In the female category, scholar Tanya Mackensen had her first standard distance win, with Megan Le Roux second and Stephanie Mohrmann third. In the Veterans, Ellois Ellis was first, Charmaine Shannon second and Almut Dieckhoff third. Antje Tietz won the Masters with Mimi Linde second and Berrit Graf third.

Finally, the Sprint category was won by Schalk van der Merwe and Mariska Grobbelaar.


 

 

About The Author

Sport Contributor

The Economist does not have a dedicated sport reporter. This designation is used for several contributors who want their sport stories in the Economist. Experience has taught us that companies usually want their sport sponsorships published prominently, being the reason for a sports category. It now also carries general sport items but only those with direct Namibian relevance. - Ed.