Cape Town triathlete loves Bay

Cape Town’s Kelly Vroon stole the show as she crossed the line to win the second instalment of the Summer Triathlon Series at Pollok Beach on Wednesday.

Coming off the back of a third-place finish in the first round of the series on Sunday, Vroon showed excellent powers of control to take the win in a time of 1 hr, 19 mins and 48 secs. She was followed home by Christine Coppinger (1:20.36) in second and Lara Truter in third with a time of 1:20.44.

On the men’s side, Keegan Cooke got back to winning ways as he claimed the second round in a time of 59.08, with Jean-Pierre Weiderman in second with a 1:04.33 and Divan du Plooy (1:04.43) in third.

In the race, which is a part of the Molo Festival of Triathlon initiative and fuelled by Caltex, over 70 competitors took to the start line across the four race disciplines.

Vroon, who is on holiday with family and will return home this week, said conditions were almost perfect for racing, besides the wind which added an extra challenge to the race.

“The race was really good. I came out of the swim first . . . was a bit choppy at the back but I had a nice group of boys to swim with. I found the cycle quite tough going out to the first 5km beacon because of the wind.

“One of the girls passed me on the bike, so I knew I would have to make it up on the run, which I did. The run course along the beach is so beautiful and I really pushed hard to get the win,” Vroon said.

Racing in a triathlon race for only the fourth time, and her first in the Bay, Vroon said she enjoyed competing in the Bay because of the friendliness of the people in addition to the beauty of the surrounds.

Cooke, who finished second behind round one winner Travis McGrath on Sunday, had his game face firmly in place as he shaved almost half a minute off McGrath’s winning time in the first race.

“I am really happy with today’s race. I felt a lot stronger than Sunday, conditions were much harder, the wind was pumping and although the sea looks flat, once you turn the first buoy, you have to work a lot harder on the way back.

“On the bike, the wind was quite tough, so it was a constant effort. But on the run, my legs felt like they turned over nicely today so I just went for it and raced hard,” he added.

Cooke said he felt a lot stronger in all facets of the race in comparison to Sunday, and he is now ready to take on the third leg of the race on Sunday.

In the Super sprint triathlon women’s race, Mandy Vroon took top honours in a time of 47.16, followed by Leya Bosman (56.41) in second and Roxanne Campher (57.42) in third.

The men’s race saw Siphosethu Nomoyi claim the win in a time of 46:32 followed by Allesandro Fanicchi (47.39) in second and Cornelis Campher (57.45) in third.

The sprint duathlon saw Warren Paris take the victory in a time of 1:15.12 with Keith Vroon (1:17.45) in second.

The super sprint duathlon had Bradley Bosman take the win in a time of 45.27.