Brinkmann and Chase edged out at the front

Four of Namibia’s top junior triathletes and one senior athlete travelled to South Africa with national coach Adele de la Rey to compete in the Africa Triathlon Premier Cup in held in the Western Cape harbour town of Mossel Bay, closing off a demanding period of racing.

Racing got underway on Sunday morning with the junior men’s event, where Nathan Chase and Fynn Middleton represented Namibia against a strong field of 34 athletes from five nations.

The race began with a 750m ocean swim, made even more dramatic by the run from the beach into the water. South Africa’s Anthony Clayton led out of the swim, while Chase exited in fifth position, 29 seconds behind the leader.

On the bike, Chase once again showed his strength by recording the fastest bike split — the fourth time in his last five races that he has achieved this. The 20km course, raced over three laps, featured a number of punchy climbs, which Chase used well to close the gap to the leaders and form part of a three-man breakaway.

Meanwhile Middleton, who had a swim below his usual standard and came out in 17th place, settled into the main chase group on the bike course.

Starting the run strongly, Chase held pace early on with Anthony Clayton, the previous weekend’s winner at the Africa Cup in Swakopmund. As the run progressed, the effort began to show, and Chase gradually slipped off the leader’s pace before being joined by Ryan Viviers (RSA), the recently crowned junior world champion in biathlon.

Middleton, meanwhile, produced a determined run performance. After struggling with injury this season and only being cleared to race the week before, he showed maturity and resilience to finish 16th out of 32 athletes.

Chase crossed the line in fourth place after being passed in the latter stages by Nicholas Horne (RSA). Since Chase became the reigning African junior championship title holder in Egypt during February, his fourth place in Mossel Bay speaks to the current level of competition among the junior men.

Junior women

The junior women’s race followed, with Maja Brinkmann and Kyra Marschall lining up for Namibia in a field of 19 athletes from three nations.

Much attention was on Brinkmann and South Africa’s Taylor Foster, who had won convincingly in Swakopmund the previous weekend in Brinkmann’s absence.

Brinkmann had claimed the African title ahead of Foster six weeks earlier in Egypt and was eager to test herself again, despite having withdrawn from last weekend’s home race due to illness.

Brinkmann, known for her swim strength, exited the water in second place, just three seconds behind Foster. Marschall also delivered an excellent swim, coming out seventh and well positioned in the main group.

Through transition, Brinkmann was the quickest and took the lead onto the bike, quickly forming a two-athlete breakaway. They were later joined by Zimbabwe’s Rachel O’Donoghue, who recorded the fastest bike split of the day, creating a lead group of three. Marschall continued to ride strongly in a chasing group of five.

On the run, the lead group was reduced when Brinkmann fell off the pace. Still not fully recovered from the illness that affected her last week, she nonetheless fought hard and was rewarded with a well-earned bronze medal, comfortably ahead of the fourth-placed athlete. O’Donoghue won by seven seconds against Foster, with Brinkmann another 45 seconds behind.

Marschall once again showed consistency and maturity during a busy stretch of racing, finishing 13th while competing against older athletes.

Elite men

Rounding off the day for Team Namibia was Max Betts, competing in only his second race since returning from a three-year hiatus.

The 22-year-old made his Namibia debut in Swakopmund the previous weekend, where he placed 25th in the elite race. In Mossel Bay, he stepped up to the Olympic-distance for the first time (1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run).

Betts delivered an excellent swim, exiting seventh in a field of 24 athletes and just 20 seconds off the lead — a performance that reflected his pedigree as a former Jetty Mile winner.

On the demanding bike course, he worked within the second group which raced at over 40 km/h. He then capped off his race with a superb 10km run, clocking 37:33 to finish 14th overall and third among the African athletes.

Up next

Looking ahead, Middleton and Marschall will next compete in the Winter Duathlon Series.

Chase and Brinkmann, meanwhile, have a number of Junior European Cups planned in Spain, Austria and the Netherlands as part of their build-up to the World Junior Championships later this year.

In addition, Namibia Triathlon Federation secretary-general Adele de la Rey will be travelling to Switzerland for the graduation of her International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program, further supporting the continued development of coaching and athlete performance in Namibia.