THE country's top junior triathletes will be vying for tickets to the Africa Triathlon Junior Cup when they take part in the selection race at Mt Pleasant Pool today.
Only two athletes Duwan Botha and Anje Van As have already qualified for the continental competition scheduled for Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth South Africa on March 19, following their performances at the SA Youth Championships last week.
The Africa Triathlon Junior Cup is open for the Under-19 and Under-17 athletes both male and female.
National team coach Pamela Fulton said today's event is important as far as the selection process is concerned and she is hoping that all targeted athletes will qualify into the final team.
“This weekend, being the final qualification event is a really important one for three athletes who are still in the process of qualifying. Botha and Van As have already qualified and they gave everything at last weekend’s Maselspoort (South Africa) event, so they most likely will treat this weekend’s race as a training session. I am hoping that all six athletes qualify and we travel with a full team,” she said.
Fulton is encouraged by the team's performance in South Africa last weekend where young Rachel O’Donoghue scooped gold in the girls Under-13 category.
“The Youth team did exceptionally well in the extremely hot conditions in South Africa last week. Rachel O’Donoghue excelled in the U-13 girls category winning gold and beating all the U-15 girls as well.
"The first timers embraced the whole tour experience, thoroughly enjoyed the tour and gave it their all on race day. It was a huge learning curve for most of them having to pack and assemble their bikes for the first time.
"Fortunately, all bikes worked well on race day with no mechanical issues. They coped well with the pre-race nerves and pressures, and bonded well as a team,” Fulton said.
Today's programme will be a house full of events with the athletes racing in triathlon, duathlon and aquathlon, a fun and fast-growing sport that combines running and swimming.
The purpose of the selection races is for athletes to get valuable points over a number of races to allow them to be selected for future international tours, beginning with the South Africa Championships which took place last week.
Triathlon Zimbabwe will announce the final team that will be representing Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth at conclusion of the selection event.