Namibia’s Drikus Coetzee is in confident mood ahead of his Commonwealth Games triathlon race which takes place on Thursday afternoon.
“My last few weeks of training and preparation have been very good, especially with the good training conditions I’ve had in Wales during my training camp,’ he explained.
‘I feel a lot more confident on my swim than I did even two weeks ago when I competed in the European Cup in Wales,’ he added.The European Cup was the first event outside Africa for the young Pretoria-based triathlete where he finished 54th. For the upcoming Glasgow 2014 race his aim is a top 30 finish.
Coetzee said that the competition at the Commonwealth Games was extremely strong, with the favorites for the race being Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee of England, while Richard Murray of South Africa also stood a good chance of winning a medal.
Alistair Brownlee won the Hamburg triathlon two weeks ago and is in top form, but Coetzee believes that Murray also stands a good chance to surprise the favourites.
“Richard has similar strengths to me. He’s got an above average swim, but is usually not one of the first out of the water. His cycling is his big strength, just as with me. My aim is to stick with him during the swim and get out of the water at least in the second group. I should then be able to get back up into a strong position on the bike and this should secure me a good overall result,” he said. The men’s triathlon race will take place on Thursday afternoon at 15:00 at the Strathclyde Country Park south east of Glasgow, which is already an established national triathlon venue.
Currently the water in the Strathclyde Loch is at 19.5 degrees, but with the current warm and sunny temperatures in Glasgow the water can still heat up to above 20 degrees, which would mean that no wetsuits will be used during the race – something Coetzee sees as an advantage to him for the 1500m swim. Roads and paths surrounding the open water will then be used for the 40km cycle and the 10km run. – Proactive
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