Andrea Steyn secures her fifth consecutive win in the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries

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Tuesday, 15 November 2011 09:23

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Fantastic turnout in PE for fifth round of BSG Energade Triseries

Andrea Steyn (Team BSG) proved to be unstoppable as she secured her fifth consecutive win in the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries – bringing her total number of BSG Energade Triseries wins to 36 since she started taking part. In the Elite Men’s category Richard Murray (Team BSG) took gold – his third win in the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries.

The fifth event of the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries was held at Pollock Beach in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, 13 November. The growth of the sport in the region was evident with race organisers reporting a phenomenal increase in the number of entries compared to previous years – 277 entries for the Main Series and 102 entries for the Kiddies’ race.

This was the first (and only) ocean swim of the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries and this presented a new challenge for the inland-based athletes. In the Elite Men’s race Henri Schoeman (Team Future Life) was the fastest man out of the water closely followed by Abrahm Louw (Team BSG). The Elite Men bunched up again during the cycle and it was Richard Murray (Team BSG) who took the lead coming out of transition into the run. Richard convincingly won the gold in a time of 55:41, followed by Claude Eksteen (Team Inov-8) in second place with his time of 56:33. Abrahm Louw had an unfortunate fall during the cycle leg of the race but he managed to make up valuable time during the run to finish in third position with a time of 56:44. Henri Schoeman and Pieter van der Mescht (Team Future Life) rounded off the top five.

In the Elite Ladies’ race there was no stopping defending champion Andrea Steyn (Team BSG) as she powered through the route taking the gold in a time of 1:05:08. All eyes were on Carlyn Fischer (Team Inov-8) who had just returned from the ITU Columbian World Cup where she managed a ninth place finish. Still energised by her recent success, Carlyn had a strong finish at Pollock Beach coming in just 20 seconds behind Andrea to take the silver in a time of 1:05:28. Third across the finish line was Vicky van der Merwe (Team BSG) in a time of 1:06:48, with Riana de Lange (Ocean Basket) coming in fourth.

Elite Men’s Category Race Results:

1 Richard Murray 0:55:41

2 Claude Eksteen 0:56:33

3 Abrahm Louw 0:56:44

4 Henri Schoeman 0:57:02

5 Pieter van der Mescht 0:57:02

Elite Ladies’ Category Race Results:

1 Andrea Steyn 1:05:08

2 Carlyn Fischer 1:05:28

3 Vicky van der Merwe 1:06:48

4 Riana de Lange 1:14:10

In the Main Series the fastest man to cross the finish line was Ruan Naude in a time of 1:00:16. He was followed by Rye Peter, Dan Howitz, Craig Alers and Michael Bester – all five competing in the 20 – 29 men’s age category. The fastest lady in the Main Series was Liza Bright (20 – 29 age group) who finished in a time of 1:10:30, followed by Minette Bell (30 – 39 age category) and Veteran athlete Mariette Hattingh.

In the BSG Energade Kids’ Series (12-15 age group), it once again came down to a race between BSG development squad teammates Nathan Le Roux and Sidney Engelbrecht. In the end it was Nathan who had a strong finish crossing the line in a time of 34:41 – almost five minutes ahead of the fastest girl, young Robyn-Leigh Jones (Team Inov-8) with her time of 39:14. All three of these young talented athletes have been consistently proving their worth, achieving podium finishes in all of the BSG Energade Triseries events where they have competed.

The next race in the BSG Energade Triseries will be taking place at Brandvlei Dam in Worcester on Sunday, 20 November. Race times have been pushed back to allow for travel time from Cape Town – registration opens at 7:00 with the races starting from 9:00. With less than one week to go, race organisers are reminding athletes to get their online entries in early as entries are capped for both the Kiddies’ and the Main Series. Visit www.bsgmultisport.co.za to register and secure your place at the sixth event in the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries.