Schoeman & Sanders defend African titles

With less than two weeks to go until Cape Town makes its debut on the 2014 World Triathlon Series calendar, the 2014 ATU Triathlon African Championships were held in Troutbeck over the weekend.

Gillian Sanders defended her continental title with a stunning win in Zimbabwe. While Mari Rabie took the lead out of the swim, Sanders paired up with Lauren Dance on the bike to slowly chip away at Rabie’s lead.

After overtaking their compatriot on the bike, Sanders unleashed fury on the run to leave Dance behind. With a run split of 37:30, Sanders reclaimed her African crown in 2:18:18. Dance was next to cross over the finish line in 2:20:03, while Rabie was left with bronze in 2:21:38.

In the men’s race, Henri Schoeman pumped out an impressive swim to distance himself from the crowd in what was a pivotal move for the podium. His more than a minute and a half lead out of the water gave him the insurmountable lead onto the bike and run he needed to hold onto his African title.

While Richard Murray clocked both the fastest bike and run, it wasn’t enough to keep the up and coming Schoeman from capturing the African title in 2:00:15. After suffering a three-minute setback on the swim, Murray churned into gear on the bike, overtaking nearly half the field in the next two disciplines for silver in 2:01:49.

Wian Sullwald, who earned South Africa its first ever world championship title in the men’s youth race in 2012, rounded out the top three in 2:02:26.