As the Rugby World Cup kicks off so the Western Cape triathlon season gets underway with the popular Westcoast Warmwater Weekend triathlon and open-water swim taking place at the beautiful West Coast National Park on Saturday and Sunday.
In the first event of the new Western Cape season, triathletes will be testing their early-season form on Saturday in either the standard distance format (1500m swim, 40km ride, 10km trail run) or over the sprint distance (750m, 20km, 5km), while open water swimmers have the choice of a 3,8km, 1,6km (1 Mile) or 800m distances on Sunday
The 10th anniversary Westcoast Warmwater Weekend powered by MiWayLife has a new look this year with renovations at Kraal Bay inspiring a change in venue which has resulted in some exciting adjustments to the routes.
The event has moved to the area of the Langebaan Lagoon which kite boarders have made famous in recent years, enabling the standard-distance event swimmers to enjoy the relatively warm turquoise waters for their 1,5km point-to-point swim.
Riders in the standard distance event will then be able to enjoy the 40km ride and 10km run in the beautiful scenery of the West Coast National Park.
With competitors coming out of their winter training there is uncertainty about who will have the best form to take the 10th anniversary victory, but Samuel Courts, who was sixth in the Cape Town leg of the World Cup in Cape Town earlier this year, and Georgia Grobler, fourth in the women’s race at the same event, are likely to be in the mix deep into the final leg.
The standard distance triathlon gets underway at 7.30am on Saturday with the sprint event starting 30 minutes later. The open water swims all take place on Sunday.
