Cooke retains triathlon title

[caption id="attachment_230786" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Keegan Cooke in action during the Nelson Mandela Bay Triathlon Championships at Pollok Beach
Picture: Werner Hills[/caption]

A bumper 130 triathletes took part in the Nelson Mandela Bay Triathlon Championship at Pollok Beach on Sunday despite the strong off-shore winds making for a tough cycle leg.

Defending champion Keegan Cooke had a great race, taking more than four minutes off his winning time from last season when he crossed the line in 2hrs 1min and 23sec after completing the 1 500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.

Louis de Villers placed second, with Jarryd Cooke in third place.

Claudia Harcus snatched the women’s title in a time of 2:27.42 from Mariette Hattingh and Jeanette van Tonder.

Recently crowned world disabled triathlon champion Charl Parkin, of Port Elizabeth, took part on Sunday and won the disabled category over the sprint distance in a time of 1:27.37, while Dewald Klinkenburg defended his junior title over the sprint distance in 1:14.55 from Shane Hall.

Danieke de Kock from East London took the girls title from Martelize Kruger.

In the Youth category for children under the age of 16, Andrew Bosch and Chelsey Cooke were the victors.

Social triathletes were also able to take part on the morning with Graeme Renard and Lizelle Truter winning the Olympic distance race, Paul Mason and Jackie Strydom the sprint distance and Siphosethu Nomoyi and Kiara Herman winning the super sprint triathlon.

The next triathlon event in Nelson Mandela Bay will be the About IT Triathlon Summer Series, which is a four-part sprint distance triathlon starting at Pollok Beach on December 16.