Ironman contest boosts our town
Mossel Bay charities have benefited from a R250 000 donation following the Isuzu Ironman 70.3 competition held in town on Sunday, 19 November.
In a statement this week, the Isuzu Foundation noted that, in collaboration with the official Ironman charity, Ironman 4 the Kidz, the R250 000 would be given to three local charities: the Education and Training Hub for Autism needs (ETHAN), Creating Effective Families (CEF) and Eden Protocol.
ETHAN assists, guides and educates children and their families on how to support loved ones with autism. Creating Effective Families is a place of safety and guidance for women with children who are victims of domestic and violent abuse and crimes. Eden Protocol focuses on building the confidence, resilience and commitment of youth through sport, particularly swimming, surfing and lifesaving.
Smoothly
The Ironman competition went extremely smoothly.
There was one fatality. A man who was in difficulty during the swimming section of the competition was rescued from the water and later died in hospital.
Mossel Bay Advertiser has enquired to find out the athlete's name, but had not received the information at the time of going to press.
Mossel Bay Municipality noted that no traffic-related incidents or public disturbances were reported relating to road closures.
The directorate: Community Safety thanked all the officers, officials and other partners who served in the venue operational centre (VOC) on the day and who worked in the field to ensure the Ironman ran smoothly.
Thanks
The municipality thanked motorists and members of the public for their cooperation during the road closures. In a statement after the event, Mossel Bay mayor Dirk Kotzé said:
"I am especially proud of every local participant who measured well against the strong field of international and national athletes.
"I thank all municipal officials for their hard work. Some of them started working at 02:00 on Sunday morning in preparation for the event. They finished long after the last athlete crossed the finish line and their dedication left our town in pristine condition after the event."
Weather
The competition took place in near-perfect weather conditions. The temperature was mild and there was little wind and the sea was 22 degrees Celsius.The top professional men were:
1) Francisco Javier Gómez Noya (Spain) 3:51:46
2) Matt Trautman (SA) 3:54:22
3) Nicholas Quenet (SA) 4:00:09 4) Matthew Ralphs (SA) 4:04:04 5) Cameron Macnair (SA) 4:05:30
The top professional women were:
1) Emma Pallant-Brown (UK) 4:21:24 2) Magda Nieuwoudt (SA) 4:28:02
3) Eloise du Luart (France) 4:45:02
Withdrew
Last year's Ironman Mossel Bay winner, Bradley Weiss, withdrew from the competition during the cycling section because he was battling flu.
A Bayethe Multisport Academy athlete was the first Mossel Bay resident to cross the finish line.
Bonga Nkqintiza finished in 4:50:48. He came fourth out of 86 athletes in the male 18 to 24 category. He was 43rd out of all the men and 46th overall in the Ironman competition.