East London’s premier triathlete Clinton Gravett kicked off his season with a strong win in the final round of the About IT Triathlon Summer Series at Port St Francis at the weekend.It was the fourth round of the 2015 series and Gravett returned to repeat his feat of last year when he took the final round win in St Francis Bay.
“I had not competed in a triathlon in about two and a half months, so I just decided to go and do that one just to do a race and remind the body what it can do,” Gravett said.
“It was quite a tough field, so I was pretty stoked to win.”
On the overall front, however, young Port Elizabeth triathlete Keegan Cooke claimed the win, placing first in the first and third rounds, finishing second in the second round and fifth in the fourth round.
It is the first time since 2012 that the series has not been won by someone from East London with young triathlete Nathan le Roux winning the event overall in 2013 and Gravett claiming the overall win last year, with Le Roux in second.
However, this year neither competed the full stint, with Gravett only coming in for the final round this past Saturday.
“I am going into a training camp in January at the Golden Gate in the Free State so focus was on that, with a tough two weeks of training coming up and then the Ironman 70.3 towards the end of the month, so I was not going to do the full series again this year,” Gravett said.
This year’s fourth round was set to be an exciting one with Cooke in good form and taking a lot of momentum into the final race, while 2013 Summer Series open division winner Dylan Pivo from Stellenbosch and 2013 open division runner up Richard Lawrie from Port Elizabeth both joined the field along with Gravett to make a strong line-up.
Gravett was in top form, however, to cruise home in a time of 1:03:27 to secure an impressive win.
“Overall I was happy with my performance,” Gravett said.
Pivo finished second, one minute 27 seconds behind Gravett, while Lawrie rounded out the top three a further 13 seconds back.
Gerhard De Bruin finished fourth in a time of 1:05:39, while Cooke came in fifth in 1:09:09, five minutes and 42 seconds off the top spot.
In the women’s division PE’s Liza Kingston dominated, sealing the overall win with another first place in the final round.
Amore Strauss and Antonelle Saporta, both from PE, finished second and third overall respectively.
In the end it was a good finish to the 2015 series and athletes will be looking to compete in the popular holiday event again next year.
Gravett will also now look to build on this performance as he heads into the 2016 season.
“It was good to get the confidence going and I will now look to build on that in the new season.”
EL Gravett retains final round win
It was the fourth round of the 2015 series and Gravett returned to repeat his feat of last year when he took the final round win in St Francis Bay.
“I had not competed in a triathlon in about two and a half months, so I just decided to go and do that one just to do a race and remind the body what it can do,” Gravett said.
“It was quite a tough field, so I was pretty stoked to win.”
On the overall front, however, young Port Elizabeth triathlete Keegan Cooke claimed the win, placing first in the first and third rounds, finishing second in the second round and fifth in the fourth round.
It is the first time since 2012 that the series has not been won by someone from East London with young triathlete Nathan le Roux winning the event overall in 2013 and Gravett claiming the overall win last year, with Le Roux in second.
However, this year neither competed the full stint, with Gravett only coming in for the final round this past Saturday.
“I am going into a training camp in January at the Golden Gate in the Free State so focus was on that, with a tough two weeks of training coming up and then the Ironman 70.3 towards the end of the month, so I was not going to do the full series again this year,” Gravett said.
This year’s fourth round was set to be an exciting one with Cooke in good form and taking a lot of momentum into the final race, while 2013 Summer Series open division winner Dylan Pivo from Stellenbosch and 2013 open division runner up Richard Lawrie from Port Elizabeth both joined the field along with Gravett to make a strong line-up.
Gravett was in top form, however, to cruise home in a time of 1:03:27 to secure an impressive win.
“Overall I was happy with my performance,” Gravett said.
Pivo finished second, one minute 27 seconds behind Gravett, while Lawrie rounded out the top three a further 13 seconds back.
Gerhard De Bruin finished fourth in a time of 1:05:39, while Cooke came in fifth in 1:09:09, five minutes and 42 seconds off the top spot.
In the women’s division PE’s Liza Kingston dominated, sealing the overall win with another first place in the final round.
Amore Strauss and Antonelle Saporta, both from PE, finished second and third overall respectively.
In the end it was a good finish to the 2015 series and athletes will be looking to compete in the popular holiday event again next year.
Gravett will also now look to build on this performance as he heads into the 2016 season.
“It was good to get the confidence going and I will now look to build on that in the new season.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos