Namibia’s top junior triathletes have been in fine form in Europe recently while the national duathlon championships were held in Windhoek.
Nathan Chase, who is the reigning Africa junior triathlon champion after winning the title in Egypt in March, has been competing at top international events in Europe in preparation for the World Triathlon Championships in Spain at the end of September.
On 22 August he competed at the Europe Triathlon Junior Cup in Moletai, Lithuania, where he came ninth overall, finishing just under a minute behind the winner, Kalmer Kiiver of Estonia.
A week later he competed at another European Junior Cup in Jurmala, Latvia, where he finished 22nd overall in a strong field of more than 60 athletes representing top triathlon nations such as France, Germany, Hungary and Belgium.
National triathlon coach Adele de la Rey says Chase got off to a good start in Jurmala.
“Nathan had a good swim to come out mid-pack, then rode his way to the front of the bike leg and into a two-man breakaway with South Africa’s Anthony Clayton. They entered the transition with a few seconds gap, where Nathan ran a personal best on his 5km run, but it was not enough to hold off the strong European runners, and he eventually finished 22nd,” she says.
Chase, meanwhile, says he was happy with his performance in Latvia.
“It was good to test something new and a super cool experience to lead a race in Europe. Now I kind of know what doesn’t work and what does work, so it was a good indicator ahead of the world championships,” he says.
“I guess a dream result would be finish inside the top 20 but I’m not really focusing on my position too much, I’m more focused on the individual aspects of the race. A big goal will be to finally put together a proper swim that can get me comfortably into the front pack and then to hopefully have a really good run. For me it’s more about executing my race to the best of my ability and then if I do that I think the result will follow,” he adds.
Three other Namibian junior triathletes, Hendrie and Jana Mutschler, and James Langford have also gained valuable experience at competitions in Europe.
On 29 August they competed at the Nordic Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, against strong competitors from Nordic nations like Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.
In the youth male 12-15 category, Hendrie produced an excellent performance, finishing seventh out of 20 athletes in a time of 33:58.
In the youth male 15-17 category, Langford came 21st out of 26 athletes in 34:37; and in the youth female 16-17 category, Jana came eighth out of 11 athletes in a time of 38:08.
“Competing against strong European fields made this an extremely valuable first international exposure race for all three athletes. They adapted well to the last-minute change in format, raced with determination and gained important experience that will contribute to their continued development.
“A special thank you to Aarhus Triathlon for making our Namibian team feel so welcome during our time in Denmark. Your hospitality and support have been greatly appreciated,” De la Rey said.
Johan du Plessis and Anri Greeff, meanwhile, were crowned the Namibian champions at the National Duathlon Championships in Windhoek last weekend.
The duathlon was run over the standard Olympic distance of a 10km run, 40km cycle and another 5km run, with Du Plessis winning the men’s race in 2:10:04, followed by Mark Spath (2:17:40) and Marnus van Wyk (2:20:30).
Greeff won the women’s race in 2:14:50, followed by Louise Breed (2:16:58) and Lindie Tripodi (2:32:13).
Dawie Greeff won the men’s sprint duathlon (5km run, 20km cycle, 2.5km run) in 1:07:23, while Kyra Marschall won the women’s sprint triathlon in 1:16:35, followed by Roselyn Mbathera (1:33:17).
Micah Chase won the men’s super duathlon (2.5km run, 10km bike, 1.25km run) in 30:02, followed by Max Heigan (34:06) and Hendrik Baartman (34:16), while Qara Volschenk won the women’s super duathlon in 37:34.
