Triathlon all grown up

Only a few years back, events were hastily put together by volunteers and harassed officials from the local triathlon administrative body (In many cases, those poor officials were coerced into helping.) They did a sterling job with what they had, pulling help from wherever they could, liaising with local authorities for permission and organising road closures, marshals and traffic officials on the day. Organising a triathlon is not a job for the faint hearted or those with a short attention span.

In 2014, things have changed. The sport has grown, and the small child that was a fringe sport in the late 90s has had a spectacular growth spurt and is now a petulant teenager of the new millennium. It is a sport that is demanding its proper place in a society filled with similar ‘edge’ events. It is also a sport that needs proper organisational skills and talent.

With the World Triathlon Series coming to Cape Town this April (talk about an older sibling and massive peer pressure), the eyes of the triathlon world are on Cape Town, and the sport in the Western Cape, like any kid in its first year at high school, needed a new set of clothes and a proper haircut.

Luckily, the Western Province Triathlon committee aren’t short sighted. Realising that they are administrators and not organisers, they roped in the help of professional event organiser Olivia Ness and her team from Raw Events to run the logistics of the Western Province Triathlon Championships. Good move. Greater success.

Those who entered the race on Sunday, 19 January probably thought that a 6:30 a.m. race start was stupidly early. They certainly changed their tune when the temperatures soured into the thirties by midday. With the weather playing along like a well conducted orchestra (without the wind section, which is unusual for any event held in Cape Town in the summer), the athletes were treated to the first of many pleasant surprises on the day, the venue.

The Val de Vie Estate in Paarl is simply stunning, with manicured lawns, perfect water quality and a secure environment for spectators and family. Val de Vie threw its doors wide, gave the athletes a huge welcoming smile and made a lot of friends
in the process.

So the triathlon circus rolled into town for what was going to be an amazing day of racing. With Raw Events doing the rah-rah side of things, and the indefatigable Tony Bradford of WP Triathlon and his team pulling the strings, making things happen and just being everywhere, this event took sprint triathlon in the Western Cape to a whole new level.

Checking the line-up at the start, it was clear that this was going to be a quality race, despite many top contenders treating it as part of their taper before Ironman 70.3 in East London a week later.

In the men's race, Xterra Champ Stuart Marias, Ironman star Matt Trautman and up and coming local star Frederick Wagenvoorde were all on the line, along with a host of other class talent like Theo Blignaut. There was also the added entertainment of multiple Olympic gold medallist and Val de Vie resident Ryk Neethling lining up as the swimmer in a relay fun team. That must have got a few egos twitching.

Heading up the women's field was race favourite Di McEwan, Olympian (on the serious comeback trail), Marie Rabie and Robyn Williams, who although concentrating more on off road races these days was looking to pick up the pieces left by those in front should they have a bad day.

First out of the water after a brilliant swim was Theo Blignaut, followed 18 seconds later by Fred Wagenvoorde and then Ryk Neethling, who gave the others a fighting chance by swimming backstroke. Stuart Marais was trailing by a massive 2 minutes going into the swim/bike transition and had set himself up for a huge effort if he wanted to take the win.