ZIMBABWE youth Olympian Drew Williams leads an 18-member national triathlon team that is expected to compete in the South African Championships to be at Buffalo City in East London on March 1. BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Williams represented Zimbabwe at last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, where he recorded a personal best time on his way to finishing on position 29.
The 17-year-old St John’s College student, who finished third at the same competition last year, will be a strong favourite to challenge for honours in the Under-19 category where he is Zimbabwe’s lone representative.
Triathlon Zimbabwe president Rick Fulton, who announced the squad, said he was hopeful the selected triathletes would do well against some strong competitors at the South Africa Championships.
“It’s quite a balanced team with a number of potential medal hopefuls. However, a lot will depend on how the individuals perform on the day but we are confident,” Fulton told NewsDay Sport in an interview yesterday.
“Obviously the competition will be quite strong. It’s a provincial championship for the South Africans and they will be fielding their strongest triathletes. However, we have prepared as best as we could and we hope the team will do well,” Fulton said.
Zimbabwe’s only gold medallist at the South African championships last year, Gabrielle De Chassart, carries Zimbabwe’s medal hopes in the boys Under-17 while the trio of Gideon Benade, Alex Colegrave and Reece Williams in the Under-17 boys’ division.
Meanwhile, local triathletes will be hoping to do well in South Africa ahead of the Troutbeck ATU Triathlon African Cup to be held in Nyanga on March 28.
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The annual event which attracts elite athletes from across the continent will also double as the National Triathlon Championships.
Zimbabwe Team
U13 Girls — Sasha Gemmill and Mikayla Colegrave U13 Boys — Tyler Martin U15 Girls — Jamie-Lee Soper and Louise van der Westhuizen U15 Boys — Andoni Mutzuris, Brett Elliott, Oliver Philp, Callum Waterfall and Michael Benade U17 Girls — Gabrielle de Chassart U17 Boys — Gideon Benade, Alex Colegrave and Reece Williams U19 Girls — Karishma Patel, Helen Mitchell and Rebecca Duncan U19 Boys — Drew Williams
