Local triathlete cream of the crop
Daryn Wood
TENACIOUS Bay triathlete Adri Louw is fairly new to the sport but recently achieved her second top ten placing in her age group in the Ironman South Africa 70.3 event in East London.
In only her second half Ironman event, the 24-year-old Lovemore Heights resident finished in a respectable time of 06:20:33 and was the second woman out of the water in the 1.9km swim in 28 minutes.
Louw skimmed just over a minute off her previous year's time, making the top ten in the woman's 18 to 24 age group.
The former competitive swimmer gave herself a comfortable lead emerging from the sea in front of the female pack, but struggled with the bike in the boisterous wind.
"It was a tough race but the support I got from the spectators helped a lot," Louw said. "My goal is to beat six hours."
The former DF Malherbe pupil, who is in her third year of hospitality management at Varsity College, has only been competing in triathlons for two years and hopes to make it to a professional level one day.
Having won the Ocean Racing Series last year, Louw has a solid foundation and will be a name to look out for in the field.
She trains twice a day, seven days a week and will now shift her focus to the upcoming South African triathlon championships in East London next month.
The Olympic distance race consists of a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and a 10km run.
"It is a fast race so I will be working on my speed. I will also be working on my cycling. It is difficult to start training immediately after a half Ironman though."
Louw enjoys the half Ironman event and feels that she is not ready yet to take on the formidable full Ironman.
She believes she needs to be mentally stronger, so she is going to "take it easy and have fun with the half".
The thrill of the competition is what keeps Louw going.
"The feeling you get afterwards, the feeling of accomplishment – that's what motivates you to work harder."