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Paul Munyuki in Nyanga
NYANGA will once again come to life this morning when the Schweppes Water Troutbeck ATU Triathlon Africa Cup gets underway with more than 25 international and local athletes set to take part in this year’s edition.

A new champion is expected to be crowned at the end of the race as last year’s elite men’s champion, South African Wian Sullwald, is not taking part.

Another South African Cindy Schwulst will have a chance to defend the elite women’s title she won last year. By yesterday afternoon a host of foreign athletes, dominating the elite category in both the men’s and women’s sections, had completed their registration.

Zimbabwe’s Drew Williams will not be racing this year. Following an injury he sustained in South Africa, Williams will only take part in the swim for interest’s sake, but will not compete in the road race as he is yet to fully recover.

However, according to Shuan Lawler, who is part of the organising committee, most of the Zimbabwean juniors will be part of the race as it is also serving as the national championship for the locals.

Apart from being a national championship, today’s race has drawn huge interest from foreign athletes as this edition is also being used as part of the qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

“Everything has gone according to plan and all the elite athletes have registered and the junior locals are all here, because this race not only serves as an African title race, but also as a national championship race,” said Lawler.

By yesterday afternoon, cyclists, runners, officials and other personnel had a feel of the course. A light drizzle forecast for lunch time today. Some of the foreign athletes who will compete include Portugal’s Filipe Azevedo and the Luxembourg duo of Bob Haller and Neil Peters who finished second and third in last year’s competition.

Last year’s bronze medallist Mauritian Fabienne St Louis is expecting to get a better finish, but she will not have it easy with the likes of Carlyn Fischer and Cindy Lauren-Dance also in contention.

Other athletes are also coming from Namibia, Mauritius, Morocco, Mexico, Germany, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Belgium with South Africa bringing in a team of at least 15 athletes.

Elite Men: Filipe Azevado (Portugal), Ayan Beisenbayev Temirlan Temirov, Valentin Meshchermakov, (all Kazakhstan), Drikus Coetzee (Namibia), Christopher de Keysr (Belgium), Basson Engelbrecht (South Africa), Mehdi Essadiq (Morocco), Jaime Buganza (Mexico), Bob Haller (Luxembourg), Leong Law, Hul wai Wong (both Hong Kong), Jonathan Zipf (Germany), Jonas Schomburg (Turkey).

Elite Women: Lauren Dance, Carlyn Fischer, Cindy Schwulst (all South Africa), Fabienne St Louis (Mauritius).