The cream of South African triathlon talent is set to descend on East London for the Buffalo City ATU Triathlon African Championships, the Buffalo City ITU World Paratriathlon event and the Buffalo City South African Triathlon Champs at Orient Beach on Sunday.
It is the fourth year in a row the event is being held in the city, and with it moving to a new venue next year, it will be a while before it is again held here.
“Each year the event has improved and the local organising committee has done an incredible job in hosting this event, and we are very happy with it having been in East London these past few years,” said Triathlon SA president Debbie Alexander. “We are in for another great event on Sunday and all involved are looking forward to it.”
The main African Cup event will see a new men’s champ in the event, as all previous champions will not be competing. However, 2015 women’s champion Carlyn Fischer will be back to defend her title.
With the African Cup and World Paratriathlon events counting towards Olympic qualification, competition in these races is expected to be especially fierce.
As the African Cup is a continental championship only, athletes from Africa can claim points towards qualifying for the Rio Olympics, so no athletes from outside of Africa have entered in this year’s event yet, unlike in previous years.
The men’s event is headlined by South African number two Henri Schoeman, who will be competing in the event in the city for the first time. The winner of the African Cup in 2014, South African number one Richard Murray, will not be competing as he has already qualified for the Olympics.
The men’s champ in 2015, Jonas Schomburg, will also not be back as the German triathlete races out of Turkey. Even if he were to participate, his points would not count towards Olympic qualification.
Schoeman’s main challengers are likely to be U23 athletes Basson Engelbrecht, who won the bronze medal last year, and Wian Sullwald, who is considered to be South Africa’s number three.
On the women’s side, Fischer should face a strong challenge from Gillian Sanders, who claimed the silver medal in 2014 ahead of Fischer, who took bronze on that occasion, while Marie Rabi and Anel Radford will also be up there challenging.
On the local front Clinton Gravett on the men’s side and Cindy Schwulst on the women’s will be the city’s main hopes, and they will want to do well.
Sunday’s action starts at 6.40am and will continue to 4pm.
Leading athletes gear up for Orient battle
It is the fourth year in a row the event is being held in the city, and with it moving to a new venue next year, it will be a while before it is again held here.
“Each year the event has improved and the local organising committee has done an incredible job in hosting this event, and we are very happy with it having been in East London these past few years,” said Triathlon SA president Debbie Alexander. “We are in for another great event on Sunday and all involved are looking forward to it.”
The main African Cup event will see a new men’s champ in the event, as all previous champions will not be competing. However, 2015 women’s champion Carlyn Fischer will be back to defend her title.
With the African Cup and World Paratriathlon events counting towards Olympic qualification, competition in these races is expected to be especially fierce.
As the African Cup is a continental championship only, athletes from Africa can claim points towards qualifying for the Rio Olympics, so no athletes from outside of Africa have entered in this year’s event yet, unlike in previous years.
The men’s event is headlined by South African number two Henri Schoeman, who will be competing in the event in the city for the first time. The winner of the African Cup in 2014, South African number one Richard Murray, will not be competing as he has already qualified for the Olympics.
The men’s champ in 2015, Jonas Schomburg, will also not be back as the German triathlete races out of Turkey. Even if he were to participate, his points would not count towards Olympic qualification.
Schoeman’s main challengers are likely to be U23 athletes Basson Engelbrecht, who won the bronze medal last year, and Wian Sullwald, who is considered to be South Africa’s number three.
On the women’s side, Fischer should face a strong challenge from Gillian Sanders, who claimed the silver medal in 2014 ahead of Fischer, who took bronze on that occasion, while Marie Rabi and Anel Radford will also be up there challenging.
On the local front Clinton Gravett on the men’s side and Cindy Schwulst on the women’s will be the city’s main hopes, and they will want to do well.
Sunday’s action starts at 6.40am and will continue to 4pm.
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