Here comes the FNB Sandman

The FNB Sandman Triathlon is geared to give athletes in the coast a triathlon of a lifetime.

Organiser Yvonne Brinkmann of OTB Sport said that there is a lot of excitement in the air about the upcoming event. "We are expecting a big turnout. The defending champions Bonita Kasch (ladies) and Konrad Marais (men) confirmed that they will be in Swakopmund to defend their titles. Bonita is on a roll and recently won the RMB Off-road Triathlon."

The event is made possible by FNB, which has taken up the role as title sponsor of the event for the last 15 years. The years edition of the event enjoyed by the community for the last 34 years, will once again be held with the start/finish and transition area located at The Mole in Swakopmund.

The swim event will be an open water sea swim. Participants are advised to wear a wet suit due to the cold sea temperatures. The bike path is made up of tar and salt-treated roads. These are appropriate for time trial bikes (TT) bikes. The run route is a combination of paths and public roads with water tables approximately every 2.5km on the run route.

The collection of race numbers, event bags, and a race brief will take place on Saturday 3 December, at OTB Sport Swakopmund from 10:00 to 13:00 with a short race brief at 13:00. Athletes can enter for one of four different categories in this year's triathlon. These are the individual mini, individual sprint, standard distance and individual ultra-distance.

The bike racks will open at 6:15 am. The different starting times are 7.00 am for the Ultra event, 8.00 am for the Standard event, 8.30 am for the Sprint event and 8.45 am for the Mini event. The prize giving which depends on being confirmed will be held on Sunday 4 December at 05:30 p.m. at Butcher and Brewer.

The 2012 edition of the annually contested FNB Sandman Triathlon again attracted 350 entries according to the organiser Yvonne Brinkmann. Regular participants from Zimbabwe and Germany could not make it due to the Covid-19 pandemic.



Reigning champions

Defending champion Konrad Marais dominated the ultra distance in the male elite category, beating Herbert Peters and Jan-Louis Mostert in a time of 4:35.24.

Bonita Kasch won the ladies’ ultra elite division in a time of 5:09.36. Horst Neumann followed in a time of 5 hours and 30 minutes, and just over a minute later Christo Horn arrived as the male Master winner of the ultra distance. Serda Horn finished as the first female Master in a time of 5:55.23.

The Chase family again kept their family flag flying high. Greg and Bronwen along with children Micah and Nathan completed the sprint distance as winners. Young Nathan beat his dad by a mere second as he competed in the u/15 male category, while his father claimed first place in the men over 40 group. Micah claimed second position in the male u/15 category in 1:07.38, just before Bronwen who clocked in first in the women’s over 40 category in a time of 1:12.08.

The family fun continued with Peter Brinkmann taking first place as male veteran champion in the standard category, while Maya Brinkmann finished first in the u/15 ladies’ category.

Greg and Nathan Chase claimed first place in their respective categories in the sprint distance, and were followed by Hilde-Marie Olivier who completed the event in 1:00.14 to claim the title as the female elite winner. Ethan Snyders was hot on her heels and was crowned elite male winner in a time of 1:06.33.

J.G van der Westhuizen was the first to complete the standard distance circuit in a time of 2:10.31. He was followed by Peter Brinkmann in 2:12.33 while Stefan Bohlke claimed the male master title in a time of 2:22.46.

Julia Janse van Rensburg finished as the women’s elite winner in 2:26.57, while Marion Schonecke claimed victory in the ladies’ veteran category, completing the standard distance in 2:41.36. Matt-Reese Izaaks claimed the mini distance title as u/15 male category winner in a time of 32.39, while Jemima Rose Baker claimed her place as the female u/15 category winner in 40.32. Hot on her heels was ladies open champion Bianca McKenzie (42.08), while Woton Cutzer won the male open category in 51.26 for this category.



Entry Fees

N$250 Individual Mini N$300 Individual Sprint N$330 Standard distance. N$500 Individual Ultra Distance. (Includes t-shirt, certificate and completion medal) N$280 per team member in Sprint N$300 per team member Standard/Ultra There are 250 event t-shirts available, for the first paid entrants. All Ultra Distance participants are assured of a shirt.