Matthew van Coller fared best of the South African quartet involved in the elite men’s race at the 2025 Africa Triathlon Cup Swakopmund leg at the weekend when he placed seventh.
Bridget Theunissen finished second in the women’s race, only 38 seconds behind the Dutch veteran Rachel Klamer. Theunissen was credited with a time of 1hr 5min 13sec. The other South African in the elite women’s race, Shanae Williams, dropped out of the competition following the swim.
The men’s race was won by the Greek triathlete Panagiotis Bitados, who covered the 750m swim 19.857km (4 laps) cycle and 5km run in 55min 30sec. Van Coller crossed the line just behind former South African triathlete Richard Murray, now competing for the Netherlands, in seventh place in 1hr 0min 44sec. In eighth place, some 19 seconds behind Van Coller, was South African teammate Joshua Steytler. Finishing in 10th overall, in 1hr 2min 59sec was Aiden Petersen, while Bongani Tshabalala was 12th in 1:05:16.
The Junior Men’s race was again won by impressive KES Grade 11 pupil Nicholas Horne, who completed the course in 1:00:16, which was 1min 20sec clear of second-placed Anthony Clayton. It was Horne’s ninth win on African spoil from nine events.
Clayton had emerged from the water 72 seconds ahead of Horne, That lead was cut down to two seconds by the time they’d finished the cycle, but Horne again showed his speed on the 5km run, which he covered in 15min 10sec, with Clayton timing 16:34.
Lorne Gouws led home Kadence Ribbink in a South African 1-2 in the Junior Women’s race. Gouws clocked 1:08:18, with Ribbink second in 1:09:59.
