On Sunday Richard Murray will get the opportunity to see just how much his swimming has improved when he lines up for the ATU African Sprint Cup at Blouberg.
Action at this sprint triathlon – 750m swimming, 20km road biking and 5km road running – starts at 06:45.
Murray has been working hard on his swimming since the end of last season and lining up against good swimmers like Henri Schoeman will give him the chance to see if his hard work is paying off.
“It is my first race of the season so first and foremost it will give me the opportunity to have a look at my swimming and to see how much I have improved when I race against good swimmers,” said Murray.
The presence of Schoeman, Wian Sullwad and various international athletes will make for some interesting racing for the crowd, but will also give Murray a chance to get some solid feedback to his coach Joel Filliol.
The African Sprint Cup is not only the start to the season for Murray, but it gives Triathlon South Africa the chance to test its systems before the big race of the year.
This will be the first of two international triathlon events this year in Cape Town. The big one is on 27 April when the ITU World Triathlon Series comes to the Mother City.
“It is going to be a big year for TSA with the ITU World Series coming to Cape Town. Getting races like this one just right is very important.”
Murray won’t defend his South African Xterra title next weekend in Grabouw because he is flying to New Zeeland for his first overseas race of the season. He will then come back to Africa for the South African and African Triathlon Championships.
Does anyone know the results of this race?