South Africa’s Vicky van der Merwe dominated the Elite Women’s race at the 2024 Africa Triathlon Premium Cup in Nelson Mandela Bay, Gqeberha, on Sunday, 7 April 2024. The victory marks her fourth consecutive win, and puts her in a strong position for selection for the South African Olympic triathlon team to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The race took place in cool and wet conditions, with a water temperature of 15.3 degrees Celsius and an air temperature of 17 degrees Celsius. Wetsuits were mandatory for the 2-lap 1500m swim leg, which preceded the 40km cycle and the concluding 5km run.
Van der Merwe completed the course in a time of 2 hours, 2 minutes and 45 seconds, just on a minute ahead of silver medalist Amber Schlebusch, and a further 30 seconds ahead of Turkey’s Sinem Francisca Tous Servera, who finished in the bronze medal final podium place.
The newly-crowned African champion exited the water in third place after a competitive swim (00:22:03), before transitioning quickly (00:00:54) and putting in a strong performance on the bike (01:03:57). Maintaining good pace in the second transition (00:00:27), Van der Merwe then powered through the run (00:35:22) to secure a comfortable victory.
The Gqeberha champion acknowledged her swimming roots, but admits: “Running is really my strongest discipline at the moment. I came from a swimming background, but at the moment, I would say my favourite and strongest leg currently is the run.”
Speaking to gsport, Van der Merwe expressed her delight at the win, particularly considering the challenges of the past year.
“You know, it hasn’t been an easy 12 months, coming back into racing after having a baby. And so really happy that everything came together, and winning the last four races is great!”
Asked about her Olympic qualification status, Van der Merwe said: “In terms of Olympic qualification, there’s a minimum criteria for triathlon, and that is to have a ranking of 140, and I am 82. And then, each country has its own selection criteria, and according to our South African selection criteria, I’ve done everything that I must.”
The final South African teams will follow by official announcement from SASCOC, and their announcement is anticipated during May.
Of her upcoming preparations, Van der Merwe discussed her upcoming preparations, which include a mixed relay Olympic qualification attempt:
“In terms of preparations, my focus now moves to Mexico in May, where the South African team will try to qualify for the Olympics, for the mixed-team relay, so that’s two guys and two girls in a team, each racer does a quick triathlon, so it’s very quick. If we are top three over the line there, we will also qualify a team for the Olympics.”
The full results for the Elite Women’s race at the 2024 Africa Triathlon Premium Cup in Nelson Mandela Bay are available on the World Triathlon website.
Main Photo Caption: South Africa’s Vicky van der Merwe dominated the Elite Women’s race at the 2024 Africa Triathlon Premium Cup in Nelson Mandela Bay, Gqeberha, on Sunday, 7 April 2024. All Photo: Supplied
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