By Mark Etheridge
A week out from her 26th birthday, Cindy Schwulst received an early gift when she was top South African finisher at the African Cup triathlon in Zimbabwe at the weekend.
Competing at the deceptively scenic venue of Troutbeck, Schwulst took second spot on the podium behind visiting Japanese athlete Aoi Kuramoto.
The event was held over the standard Olympic distance of 1500-metres swimming, 40km biking and 10km running, and Schwulst came home in 2hr 21min 37sec. That was 24sec behind Kuramoto, with the latter’s compatriot, Chika Sato in third, three minutes back.
The only other SA finisher was Jodie Berry in fourth (2:28:43).
Speaking after her silver-medal efforts, Schwulst said: I really enjoyed racing in Troutbeck – it’s always a challenging course with the high altitude of 2100m and plenty of hills.
‘Aio exited the water about half a minute ahead of the field. I came out the water with Chika from Japan, Jodie and Vicky Van der Merwe. I really enjoy the cycle course, as hills are my strength and Chika and I managed to catch Aoi after the first lap of the cycle.
‘We worked together for the remainder of the cycle and got a big lead. We started the run together and I was feeling quite strong. I ran with Aio for the first two laps of the run and at the end of the third lap she picked up the pace and got a lead.
‘I was very happy with my race and the improvements I have made with my coach Kate Roberts [three-time Olympian], and now I’m looking forward to racing Africa Champs in Tunisia on 6 May.’
And the East London resident (she works at the Stirling Indoor Sports Complex and High Performance Centre) says her confidence is improving all the while. ‘It was a good confidence booster being able to keep up with Aio, who is a very good triathlete. I also had a good race at SA Champs at Aldam where I finished second.’
There were two non-finishers in Troutbeck, Van der Merwe and then Madelaine le Roux, the latter still battling with health issues in recent months.
In the men’s race, won by international athlete Jonas Schomburg in 2:01:30, South Africans Dylan Nortje and Jacobus Kruger were fifth and seventh in 2:12:40 and 2:24:47 respectively.