Travis off on his African safari for run of his life
Up-and-coming triathlon talent Travis Saunders will be going all out to impress when he battles it out against some of the best on the continent at the annual African Championships in Rabat, Morocco this weekend.
Selborne College pupil Saunders was selected to team South Africa after a superb performance at the SA Triathlon championship at Masselspoort in Bloemfontein last month saw him triumph in his junior men U17 age group.
“I am really happy that all the hard work has finally paid off,” said Saunders.
“Winning the SA champs was one of my top goals to achieve for the year, so I am now very excited and can’t wait to go to African champs.”
Saunders is no stranger to competing internationally as he has done a number of times before and will be looking to draw on those experiences to boost him in the African championship.
“The experience will definitely help and it will give me a sense of relief as I know what to expect within the race,” said Saunders.
However, this race is not the biggest on his calendar for the year and Saunders will be aiming to use it as a springboard to bigger things.
With the Youth Olympic Games set to take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October, the African champs event will be used as a qualifier for the African Youth Games and then subsequently for the pinnacle of youth sport.
This makes this weekend’s race even more important and Saunders will need to be at the top of his game.
“I am hoping to finish within the top three of U19s in Africa and to win my age group,” said Saunders.
“After African Champs I am going to carry on training hard to do well in the Qualifying race for the Youth Olympic Games.
“For this year my main goal is to be selected for Youth Olympic Games Team and then I will take it from there.”
Saunders is not the only local triathlete taking part in this weekend’s race, with East London's elite women Cindy Schwulst going for gold.
Schwulst was in top form at last month’s SA champs, claiming the win in the women’s elite category and she will be looking to take that momentum into the African champs and, hopefully, come away with another medal.
In all at the SA champs the Buffalo City region sent 18 athletes to compete, with them returning with 11 medals.
This included three gold medal athletes, who were SA champs in their classes – Schwulst, Saunders and Peter Venter in the 60-64 age group – while a further five silver medals and three bronze were picked up by the athletes.
“Personally I think that the camaraderie in the team and the spirit with which these athletes were supported by their fellow athletes whom attended these championships made it possible for them to perform as well as they did,” said local coach Sammy Saunders, father of Travis.
“Although some of our athletes did not achieve podiums they all achieved personal bests.”
The 2018 African championship will take place on Saturday.