Thursday, March 5, 2015

2015 South Africa Ironman Preview and Pro Start List






On March 29th, Amber will be starting her triathlon race season with the African Ironman Regional Championships. In years past this race has had few competitors and was a destination race for a (relatively) easy podium finish. On average, only 13 female pros finished this race in the last four years. This year, due to the marked shift in prize money and race availability, will signify a 180 degree change from that. In fact, as you will see from the depth and talent of the female pros signed up to race, this is likely to be a high caliber and very competitive race.

This winter has not been friendly to Amber and she will not have been on her bike outside before arriving in South Africa. And yet, I suspect that Amber will continue to perform well and will likely surprise some people who may have thought last year's string of podium finishes was a fluke. I don't know how much longer she can keep up this under-dog facade.

Amber is likely to have a fast swim-not so much due to her fitness but rather due to her knowledge that sharks typically only attack isolated swimmers so she'll be doing her best to stay with that lead pack. Fun Fact: South Africa is one of the most shark-infested waters in the world!
Chomp chomp! Better swim fast Amber!
The bike is in Amber's favor as the two loop course is described as a challenging course with some steep and continuous climbs. Hopefully enough to separate her before the flat coastal part of each loop.

The run is super fast and will be a test to see what fitness she has been able to accrue this winter.

No matter how she does, she will be in Africa and seems to only be concerned about seeing Elephants and doing a shark tank dive. South Africa is also known for their vineyards so I am sure there will be some wine tasting as well.  So no matter what, this trip is guaranteed to have many memorable experiences and will be a trip of a life-time!

Ellies!
That's right! 31 pro triathletes will be competing in South Africa.

  Jodie  Swallow UNITED KINGDOM
  Linsey Corbin UNITED STATES
  Beth Shutt UNITED STATES
  Lucy Gossage UNITED KINGDOM
  Stefanie Adam BELGIUM
  Anne Basso FRANCE
  Anja Beranek GERMANY
  Svetlana Blazevic REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
  Susie Cheetham UNITED KINGDOM
  Tine Deckers BELGIUM
  Amber Ferreira UNITED STATES
  Amy Forshaw UNITED KINGDOM
  Astrid Ganzow GERMANY
  Alyssa Godesky UNITED STATES
  Eleanor Haresign UNITED KINGDOM
  Corina Hengartner SWITZERLAND
  Jessica Jones Meyers UNITED STATES
  Caroline Koll SOUTH AFRICA
  Heather Leiggi UNITED STATES
  Maria Lemeseva RUSSIAN FEDERATION
  Caroline Livesey UNITED KINGDOM
  Britta
Camilla
Martin
Pederson
NEW ZEALAND
DENMARK

 
Nina Pekerman ISRAEL
  Lucie Reed CZECH REPUBLIC
  Diana Riesler GERMANY
  Riana Robertson SOUTH AFRICA
  Linda Scattolin ITALY
  Caitlin Snow UNITED STATES
  Sonja Tajsich GERMANY
  Kathrin Walther GERMANY
  Eva Wutti AUSTRIA

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