Drikus Coetzee won the Swakopmund Desert Triathlon in great style on 8 December when he smashed the old record by close to 11 minutes.
Competing in the Standard Distance Male Elite category, Coetzee put in a superb performance to win the race in 1 hour 52 minutes 20 seconds, which was nearly 11 minutes faster than Patrick de Goede’s previous record of 2:03:01.
Namibia’s up and coming junior triathlete Jean Paul Burger came second in 1:58:51 while Pierre van Rensburg came third in 2:17:57.
Going into the race Coetzee felt very good and knew he had to live up to expectations and he did more than that. He said it was the bike leg which took the most out of him, but he made the run leg look very easy.
It was his third victory in four races over the past two months, after he only started to compete in triathlon events in October. Previously he raced mainly in Duathlons and Biathles where he did exceptionally well, becoming the African champion in May 2013.
But his passion lies in Triathlon and despite only taking up the sport this year, he soon underlined his great potential with some winning performances.
Charmaine Shannon won the Standard Distance Women’s Elite category in 2:28:42, followed by Hayley Brand (2:33:28) and Nimsi Hugo (2:39:08).
Meanwhile, Bradley Venter from South Africa was a comfortable winner in the Men’s Ultra Triathlon, winning the event in 4:23:49.
Archie Graham of Namibia came second nearly half an hour later, while Anton Swart came third.
Irene Steyn won the Women’s Ultra-Triathlon in 5:23:15, followed by Adele de la Rey (5:48:01) and Heidi Burmeister (6:01:00).
The Swakopmund Desert Triathlon attracted about 250 athletes from Namibia and abroad.
The category results for the OTB Desert Triathlon 2013 were as follows:
Ultra event-Half Iron Man
Male Elite
1 Bradley Venter 04:23:49
2 Archie Graham 04:53:35
3 Anton Swart 05:12:34
Female Elite:
1 Irene Steyn 05:23:15
2 Adele de la Rey 05:48:01
3 Heidi Burmeister 06:01:00
1 Paddy Murphy 05:14:59
2 Obs Steffens 06:15:23
3 Ian Brown 06:32:11
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