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