Vusumuzi Dube
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Olympic hopeful Andie Kuipers will be a notable absentee at the 15th edition of the Bonaqua Troutbeck Africa Triathlon Cup set for Nyanga on 1 April.
The absence of Kuipers means that Zimbabwe will not have representation in the elite category of the continental competition sponsored by Coca-Cola through their Bonaqua brand. Already 25 elite athletes, both men and women from across the world have registered for the continental showpiece that will run concurrently with the Junior Africa Cup.
However, Triathlon Zimbabwe is impressed with the start lists for the elite and junior events which they report are growing by day. Athletes from all over the world — Chile, Austria, Kazakhstan, Togo, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Poland, Ireland, Ukraine, Bermuda, Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Romania, Japan and Guam have sent in entries and organisers expect more to register. Bonaqua Troutbeck Africa Triathlon Cup event director Rick Fulton said Kuipers is tied up in the United States of America.
“We were all hoping that Andie Kuipers, who races in the Under-23 would be our representative at the start line but is currently in university in the United States. So, it’s not practical to compete in the event given the timeframe. It’s unfortunate we don’t have local representation in the elite stage this year, but we’ll definitely have a junior elite. The junior event is an African Cup and very similar to the elite event, the junior athletes are racing for Africa ranking points. The importance for junior points is that there’s a prize pool at the end of the year for the top three male and female in triathlon which helps for their development and travel to other events. Most importantly, their rankings gives them exposure to other events and more importantly an invitation to Africa Triathlon development camps,” Fulton said.
Under-19 pair of Duwan Botha and Anje Van AS, who represented Zimbabwe in men and women’s competitions at the 2023 Africa Triathlon Junior Cup Maselspoort, South Africa will be at the start line for the Junior African Cup. The pair will also compete at the 2023 Africa Triathlon Junior Cup Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) on 18 March. The competition is a qualifying event for possible selection to represent Zimbabwe at the Africa Triathlon Championships in Egypt in October 2023.
Meanwhile, all the competitors at the Bonaqua Troutbeck Africa Triathlon Cup will receive a 15th anniversary event bag containing a special edition event t-shirt, swim cap, sports towel and other sponsor goodies. Besides Coca-Cola, the other sponsors for the 15th edition of the Bonaqua Troutbeck Africa Triathlon Cup are EcoCash, CFAO Motors, Rooney’s Events and Cimas, through their iGo brand.
– Follow on Twitter @ZililoR
Online Reporter