You should give triathlon a try this summer

TRIATHLON is very much a summer sport and for good reason.

The first leg of this amazing sport fortunately requires a little dip either in a river, lake, harbour or ocean somewhere.

To make it even more interesting, there are cut-off times that make the swim a little challenge of its own as you are not permitted to proceed to the next leg, the cycle, if you don’t make the swimming cut-off time.

Nelson Mandela Bay is located along the sunshine coast, meaning we have reasonably good average ocean water temperatures for most of the year.

Our seas are not like Cape Town; here you can actually swim.

The international triathlon governing body, the ITU, sets various regulations for open water swims.

Basically, the ITU instructs every ITU/Triathlon SA sanctioned event on what to do in case of various eventualities regarding swim conditions, in particular water temperature.

Being blessed with a great climate and a fairly calm ocean means we can play out there more often.

I know there are a number of foreign athletes who sneak into our beautiful Bay and base themselves here for long summer periods.

They come here to get away from the cold northern hemisphere winter season.

Although not guaranteed, you’re more likely to have a wetsuit-legal race in our Bay than not.

This is because our water temperatures are seldom above 25°C.

If the foreigners choose to play in our Bay, then what reasons can we offer for not taking advantage of our own natural surrounds?

This coming weekend is the official kick-start of the Bay’s triathlon season and this is thanks to new energy, fresh enthusiasm and passionate drive by the newly elected Nelson Mandela Bay Triathlon Association (NMBTA), the regional federation affiliated to Triathlon South Africa.

The NMBTA, a non-profit NGO, is the rebranded and relaunched version of what was the Eastern Province Triathlon Association.

It is amazing what happens when active triathletes get involved in their sport and if what we have seen to date is anything to go by, then the future is bright for triathlon in our region.

This weekend, the NMBTA hosts the NMB Championships, where local athletes will compete in a number of age-group categories for the chance to be this season’s Bay champion.

The events will take place at Pollok Beach on Sunday from 6am featuring teams and shorter-course triathlons in addition to the standard distance.

These formats are perfect for the newbie triathlete or curious swimmer, cyclist or runner to team up with others to make up a competitive team.

I started triathlon in 2012 as a member of a two-man team.

I had a swimmer because I could not swim at the time and all I had to do was cycle 18km and run 4.2km.

Look at me now, five full Ironman distance events and eight half-Ironman races across three continents.

It all started off as a team initiative driven by a desire to lose weight.

Residents of Nelson Mandela Bay and the regions close by can get involved in many ways this weekend.

One of the best ways to gain a front-row seat to all the action is to volunteer (if you are not racing).

Volunteering will expose you to so much more, including meeting new people and forming new circles.

The weekend events are an opportunity to see what this sport is about.

So show up at Pollok Beach on Sunday and have a look. You might get hooked on Tri. Details are on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NMBTri/