About 500 athletes participated in this year’s FNB Sandman Triathlon held at Swakopmund’s Mole on Sunday, challenging themselves in the mini, sprint, standard or ultra-distances – either as individuals or teams.
The ultra, being the main event, covered distances of a 1,9km swim, 90km cycle, and 21km run.
Jan-Louis Mostert clinched the men’s ultra title with a time of 4:54:41, Petrus Laubscher finished second with a time of 5:34:00, and Tristan Mouton came third at 5:41:15.
In the women’s ultra category, Benita Windisch emerged as the champion, completing the course in 5:39:00, Jaime Hansen secured the second spot with a time of 5:54:00 and Marike Herselman claimed the third place, finishing in 6:51:00.
Team Desert Torpedoes, comprising Phillip Seidler (swimming), Gerhard Breedt (cycling) and Erich Goeieman (running), clinched the Ultra team event.
OTB Sport’s Yvonne Brinkmann, the key organiser, told The Namibian this year saw record participation.
“When we started the event, we maybe had 60 participants. It has grown significantly. The younger people, especially under-12s, have more than 60 participants this year,” she noted, adding that this was encouraging as it showed potential for the growing interest of the sport among younger athletes, with some having even represented Namibia in the junior Commonwealth Games.
There were also athletes from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Spain and Germany this year.
“I don’t think we can get bigger; but we will continue to remain popular. Sandman has become one of those iconic sports events on the Namibian sport calendar,” she said.
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