Swakopmund welcomes champion triathletes

The Africa Triathlon Cup is set to take over parts of Swakopmund on Saturday with an expected 120 triathletes from eleven countries competing, namely host Namibia, Finland, Austria, Mauritius, the USA, Netherlands, Greece, Japan, Kenya, South Africa and Germany.

The main beach at The Mole and promenade walkway will be among the areas closed to the public for most of the day, as well as certain streets to be used during the cycling stages. More specific info can be found on the Facebook page of the Namibia Triathlon Federation.

Athletes will compete in the sprint event, which includes a 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre cycling, and a 5km run. There will also be a super-sprint, which consists of a 350m swim, 10km cycling and a 2.5 km run.

In the elite races, Namibia’s main challenger will likely be Anri Greeff in the women’s race. As Namibia’s reigning road cycling champion, the 29-year-old has been in particular good form on the bike lately.

There is a stronger pool of local junior athletes entered, including Nathan Chase and Maja Brinkmann who both achieved third places at last year’s Africa Triathlon Cup in Swakopmund.

Greece’s Bitados Panagiotis, the reigning European champion, last week won the men’s elite division at the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup at Troutbeck in Zimbabwe, ahead of Valentin Wernz of Germany and Paul Georgenthum of France.

Panagiotis was also the second finisher for U23 men at the world championship finals in Andalusia, Spain, last October. He is expected to be a favourite in the main race at Swakopmund, where South African, Dutch and Austrian entries could also present a strong challenge.