15 Apr '16: ATC Weekly

 
Ironman Results – ATC Club Champs – TriClub Qualifiers

NEWS:

This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for ATC’ers as the joys and celebrations of achievements at Ironman was mixed with the sadness and mourning the loss of two of our members.
 
Chantel Rall was first diagnosed with cancer in 2012.  She survived, made a complete recovery and went on complete Ironman Port Elizabeth in 2014 and 2015, as well as a number of Ironman 70.3 events.  Late last year, Chantel was again diagnosed with cancer and she put up a brave fight for a couple of months.  Chantel passed away on the 8th of April 2016.  There is a celebration of Chantel’s life planned for Saturday afternoon at 16:00. Please check Facebook for updates and the venue.
 
Craig Jacobs joined ATC and Embark in September 2012 and was an avid ATC supporter, always ready to lend a hand and never hesitated to celebrate.  Craig was diagnosed with advanced stage 2B/3A oesophageal cancer in December last year and passed away on the 10th of April 2016.  A memorial service will be held for Craig today (Friday) at 15:00 at the Rosebank Methodist Church.  All are welcome to attend.
 
Our condolences to the family, friends and fellow athletes of Chantel and Craig.  Once an Ironman, always an Ironman!
 

RESULTS:

Ironman African Champs
Conditions were great; although the swim was a bit choppy at times; the bike course was (arguably) easier than previous years; and the run was more fun with shorter laps, packed with spectators.  There was no dark, lonely University section, although most participants would have experienced their own dark place at some stage during the day.   But the red carpet is never dark and is always just reward for a hard day’s work.  Our congratulations to all the members who completed Ironman African Champs in Port Elizabeth on Sunday! 
We’d like to thank the supporters who kept the spirits high around the ATC and Embark gazebos all day long:  Lara Browne, Kate Neill, Robyn Elford, Angelique Edwards, STeve Attwell, Genine Manchip, Gert Wilkins, Kiki Neill, Lucy Gauntlett, Jessica Hopley, Sean Hulley, Alexandra Antonakis and Oom Paul & Tannie Kruger.
 
Congratulations to ATC Ironman Club Champions JD Neill (9:30:47, 5th 30-34) and Genelle Van Der Riet (10:51:38, 3rd 45-49).  These two, along with Iain Mc Gregor (9:46:41, 9th 40-44) qualified for Ironman World Champs and will head to Kona later this year.  Nichol Jordaan (10:14:49), Eugene Lindeque (10:19:41), Dean Hopf (10:26:13) and Brendon Leask (10:58:43) all completed Ironman in under 11 hours.  All the ATC’ers Ironman results appear at the bottom of this email.  You can also view their time splits on the On-Line version of this Newsletter
 
Atlantic Triathlon Club won Division I of the Ironman TriClub Program at the PE event and therefore qualified for the European TriClub Championship Final in Pula, Croatia, on 19 September.  So if you have been thinking of doing an international Triathlon this year, please pick this one.  All club members who complete the event accumulate points for the club, so the more members we have at the event, the better our chances. 
 
Freedom Swim
Amy Barnes (1:48:26) was the second lady in the Solo Skins category at the Freedom Swim, a 7.5 Km swim from Robben Island to Big Bay.  Nicholas Mortley (1:55:47) was 3rd in the Solo Wetsuit category and did the event to raise funds for the NSRI’s Waterwise program.  Nicolas raised R 15 000 for the program, aimed at making children aware of the dangers around water and teaching them how to be safe in and near water and how to rescue their peers.  You donation of R100 can assist in training a child to be safe in water.  Donations can be made into the following account:  Standard Bank, Branch 051001; Account: 07 819 0835; Reference: Nic Mortley Donation.  You can download Nicolas’ race report from the On-Line version of this Newsletter.
 
Cross Country Relay
On Saturday, at the Cross Country Relay in Pinelands, the ATC u/19 boys won their race and the u/15 boys came second in their age group.
 

TRAINING:  Details here...

 
SWIM:  From this week onwards, the canal swim will be on Saturday afternoons at 16:00. 
 
BIKE:  On Sunday morning we will do a 3 hour ride, starting from the Camps Bay police station at 07:00
 
 

EVENTS:  Details here...

ATC Club Champs:
In order to give ATC members the opportunity to compete in both the ATC Standard Distance Triathlon and ATC Standard Distance Duathlon Club Championships for 2016, we have decided to make the following change:
The Durbanville Triathlon will serve as the ATC Standard Distance Triathlon Club Champs.
The Discovery Duathlon will serve as the ATC Standard Distance Duathlon Club Champs.
 
The Durbanville Triathlon takes place on Saturday and includes the following events:
Durbanville Triathlon, Saturday 16 April: Swim-Bike-Run, 1.5-40-10 or .75-20-5
WP Duathlon Champs, Saturday 16 April: Run-Bike-Run, 10-40-5 or 5-20-2.5 or 2.5-10-1.25.
 
Entries for the Discovery Duathlon Cape Town, taking place on Saturday 23 April are still open.  Following the standard Run-Bike-Run format the event offers the following distances:  Olympic: 10-40-5 or Sprint: 5-20-2.5 or Super Sprint: 2.5-10-2.5.
 
Other Events This Weekend:
The Cape Winelands Mountain Bike Encounter starts on Friday, for three days of riding through Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Wellington, covering a total distance of 180 Kms.
 
On Saturday is the Leapfrog Gordon’s Bay Half Marathon and on Sunday the Spar Women’s Challenge, in Green Point. 
The Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge takes place on Sunday in Stellenbosch.
 
Enjoy the weekend!
ATC