Swakopmund is rapidly becoming a vital hub in Namibia in the realms of triathlon and energy. A green hydrogen power station has been commissioned in the town and in November HDF (Hydrogen de France) Energy announced its financing of the plant. On a side note, HDF will also be financing Zimbabwe’s first hydrogen plant.
Depending on one’s preference, critics of the move could reach either for complaints of neo-colonialism or of an over-extended neoliberalism, not least given the involvement of a western European nation-state. In the words of Taylor Swift, “haters gonna hate”.
However, that misses the broader intrigue of the move. Hydrogen is a fascinating avenue for the renewables industry. At a time when some countries have been beset by debates over green and blue hydrogen, any success in Swakopmund would put it at the vanguard of the sector.
You aren’t here to read about the potential of green hydrogen, though. So, to the triathlon. Like HDF, we will sit in Europe and take stock of the happenings of Swakopmund.
In Namibia’s first African Cup of the year, the athletes took on the Sprint distance. After a second win of the season in Nelson Mandela Bay last week, Barbara De Koning came into the race as one to watch. Similarly, after his win in Maselspoort earlier this year, it would be interesting to see how Ayan Beisenbayev backed up his result.
On the flip side, Richard Murray experienced a slightly underwhelming 7th place last week, notwithstanding a blistering run split. He was therefore set up for a reaction in Swakopmund.
Men’s race
Although the eyes may have been on Murray and Beisenbayev, it was Jesús Jimenez Gimeno that took charge of proceedings as he led the men out of the water.
Beisenbayev, though, was only 6 seconds down, while Murray was a further 10 seconds back. Both men were therefore able to slip amongst the leaders in an early front pack of nine men.
Emil Holm of Denmark and Matthew Wright of Barbados pulled some early turns on the front.
The challenge of the bike, though, was in reconciling the technical section with the prevalent headwinds. Both proved tricky for a couple of athletes in the front group. As the athletes swerved through some of the tighter areas, a couple of the men began to yo-yo off the back of the lead group. Yet once the group emerged onto the straights those at the front bore the brunt of the winds, allowing those that had lost precious few seconds to catch up.
While Holm and Murray continued to set the pace, the front group remained largely intact.
Once through T2, it quickly disintegrated. Murray was instantly in a league of his own and began to gain ground seemingly with every stride. Holm battled behind to keep up but the gap did not shrink.
As the chase arrived in T2, Murray had time to offer a little wave as he passed by on his first run lap (he instead remained focused on the task at hand).
As Holm consolidated silver, a battle for bronze began to form as Beisenbayev hunted down Wright. In the end, a tight finish between the pair did not materialise as Wright had enough to keep the Kazakh athlete at bay.
Up front, though, the day belonged to Murray. After opening his WTCS season with a 14th place in Abu Dhabi, his running looks in splendid form. Over the Sprint distance in particular, he could have something special in store once he steps back up to the world level.
Women’s race
A classic sea swim kicked off the women’s race although it did little to shake up the front-runners in the field of sixteen athletes.
Romana Gajdošová led the way as seven athletes followed within 10 seconds. The front pack was promptly whittled down to four over the course of the bike as Gajdošová, De Koning, Rachel Klamer and Rani Skrabanja pulled away.
With a smaller front pack than the men’s field, the technical sections of the course did not quite inspire the same gaps to form. There were a few small sniffs here and there as the quartet tested one another’s legs. However, there was nothing by way of a major move to separate the leaders.
As a result, the lead group arrived into T2 primed for a running race.
Within the first half of the run, the race quickly became a clash of Dutch generations as De Koning took the game to the more experienced Klamer. In the end, Klamer could not respond as daylight appeared between her and De Koning.
A small gap widened and De Koning ran away to a winning margin of 10 seconds. For Klamer, silver represented a first international medal in a little over a year; last March she won bronze at the Americas Cup in Sarasota.
Further behind, Gajdošová and Skrabanja duelled for the bronze medal. It was the Slovakian athlete that took the bronze medal, 9 seconds behind Klamer, as Skrabanja finished 4th.
View the full race results here.
