Triathlon

Jean-Paul Burger gave a great performance to win the Stauch and Partners Friedenau Off Road Triathlon in a new record time on Sunday.

The 16-year-old Burger completed the 1,2km swim, 24km cycle and 8,1km run in two hours 1 minute 59 seconds to finish more than eight minutes ahead of the second placed Paul Brinkmann, who won the Veteran category in 2:10:03.

In the process, Burger also crushed the previous record of 2:09:48 that was set by Frank Bombosch in 2012.

South African triathlete Gerhard de Bruin and his partner Corinne Berg both won gold medals at the FNB Desert Ultra Triathlon in Swakopmund on Sunday.

De Bruin won the Individual Male Elite category of the gruelling event, that consisted of a 1,9km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21km run in an excellent time of 4 hours, 17 minutes and 20 seconds, to finish just over a minute ahead of compatriot Bradley Venter, who came second in 4:18,23.

Another South African, Raoul de Jongh won the bronze medal in a time of 4:27:12.

De Bruin was delighted with his victory.

Some of South Africa’s top triathletes will compete in the FNB Desert Triathlon which will take place in Swakopmund on Saturday, December 9. 

The triathlon, which will take place for the 26th consecutive year, will be hosted by Otb Sport and sponsored by FNB Namibia, while Puma is the technical sponsor.

The Ultra event consists of 1.9km swim, 90km bike and a 21km run.  

Event organisers, Otb Sport, said they were expecting a number of competitive South African triathletes to take part in the FNB Desert Triathlon 2012 Ultra event.  

Paddy Murphy won the Old Mutual Mariental Triathlon for the third year in a row, while Charmaine Shannon won the women’s title for the second consecutive year at the 25th anniversary of the event on Saturday.

It was Murphy’s fourth victory in total at the Mariental Triathlon after he also won the event in 2008, while it was Shannon’s third victory after her first win in 2006.

Competing in the Masters category, Murphy underlined his dominance of the local triathlon scene after finishing more than two minutes ahead of Jean Paul Burger.

The Old Mutual Mariental Chamber of Commerce Triathlon reaches a special milestone on Saturday when the 25th consecutive edition will be held.

The Triathlon was held for the first time in November 1988 and since then it has taken place each year under the able administrative leadership of Dr Alfie Grobler.

Frank Bombosch and Genevieve Weber emerged as the winners of the MTN Offroad Triathlon which was hosted by Otb Sport and held at the Friedenau Dam outside Windhoek on Sunday.

The event saw a big turnout of more than 200 competitors, which was the biggest turnout for the past 25 years according to 2010 winner Patrick de Goede.

"I think it's safe to say that this is the best local field ever assembled on Namibian soil in the 25 years triathlon has been around," he said.

Abrahm Louw established himself as one of Africa’s top triathletes when he won a silver medal at the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique in September.

South Africa’s Erhard Wolfaardt won the gold medal after completing the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run in 58 minutes 30 seconds. Louw came second, 43 seconds behind, while another South African Wian Sullwald came third in 1:01:46.

Paddy Murphy retained his title as overall winner of the FNB Ultra Desert Triathlon on Saturday 3 December, showing again why he is a world class athlete. He completed the ultra triathlon consisting of a 1.9km swim, 90 km cycle and 21.5km run, in a time of 5 hours 8 minutes 43 seconds. Elke Jagua was the overall female winner in a time of 6:43:52.

The weather conditions made the race extremely hard. The swiming conditions were aggravated by unusual choppy water in the Mole, as well as a slight rip.  

The Namibian coastal town of Swakopmund just south of the Skeleton Coast is for most of the year a sleepy, old colonial German town. 

But in December Swakopmund becomes a hive of activity as Namibian and foreign holidaymakers descend on the town. One of the highlights in a series of events that take place during this festive month is the challenging FNB Desert Triathlon which kicks off on 3 December.

FNB Namibia has shown their unconditional commitment towards the development of sport in Namibia with a generous sponsorship of N$40 000 for the staging of the FNB Desert Triathlon.  

Paddy Murphy and Charmaine Shannon were the overall winners of the 2011 Mariental Triathlon which took place at Hardap Dam outside Mariental on Saturday.

Despite being a master triathlete at the age of 50, Murphy showed his younger competitors a thing or two as he comfortably won the event in a total time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 11 seconds.

Willie van Zyl came second, more than 10 minutes behind in 2:34:45, while Philip Steyn came third in 2:41:36.

The triathlon, which took place for the 24th consecutive time, consisted of a 1,5km swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run.