Natia van Heerden: Ironman
Matt Trautman from Cape Town and Natia van Heerden from Nelson Mandela Bay were the two big winners of the East London Ironman 70.3 in a windy Buffalo City on Sunday.
Matt won the men’s half ironman in 3h47:25 from James McCallum in 3h54:15 with Michael Ferreira third another 36 seconds back.
Natia won the ladies race in 4h19:55 from Mariella Sawyer in 4h27.30 – they were the only two pro ladies in the field.
Natia only turned professional last year after previously winning her age group at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
She said she was delighted with her first Ironman 70.3 Pro Victory – even though the swim had to be shortened to 750m because of rough sea conditions.
“It was a good race but a tough one,” said Van Heerden. “It was a different dynamic with the swim being shortened as it made it very hard and fast but I was still happy to be first out the water with Mariella just behind me. I went out hard on the bike and stuck to my game plan which meant I was able to enjoy a good run too, so overall very happy.”
Trautman said he’d also enjoyed a great day out and that the shortened swim, made with the weaker swimmers in mind, had been really quick. “I had a small gap getting onto the bike and I pushed really hard to start with to build the lead and it paid off. I got into a nice rhythm and controlled things from the front for the rest of the race.”
Winner: Matt Trautman (IRONMAN)
