The TransCanada Corporation World Triathlon Grand Final, age group championships saw two Grahamstown athletes compete in the event on Monday.
The TransCanada Corporation World Triathlon Grand Final, age group championships saw two Grahamstown athletes compete in the event on Monday.
Terri-Lynn Penney and Megan Hobson both earned finishers medals in the Olympic distance triathlon.
The event was made up of a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and a 10km run.
The World Championship events took place from Wednesday 27 August until this coming Monday.
Both Penney and Hobson also completed in the Aquathon world championships on the first day of the competition. In both events, Penney competed in the 35-39 age category, while Hobson competed in the 40-44 category.
In the aquathon champs, a 750m swim followed by a 4.6km run, Penney finished 15th in a total time of 37 minutes 6 seconds (13:55 swim, 20:17 run).
Hobson finished 11th in her category in 38:09 (12:25 swim and 22:31 run).
Both agreed that the race was a great pre-race warm-up for the actual triathlon championships, adding that it also gave them a chance to follow the triathlon race route.
Both athletes were selected as part of the Triathlon South Africa team after they competed in the South African Triathlon Championships which took place in East London earlier this year.
In Monday's world triathlon champs, Hobson said she enjoyed the swim, which is her strong suit and kept the momentum going with a strong cycle and a good run leg.
Penney said she was happy to finish the swim, as it got congested with the age groups, which started in batches, began to catch up to her. Penney also stated that this was her best run in a triathlon, and that she managed to make up five places in the run alone.
Hobon finished the triathlon in 2:38:9 (25:37 swim, 1:13:51 cycle and 52:30 run) finishing 37th in her age group.
Penney finished the world champs in 2:39:15 (30:48 swim, 1:16:21 cycle and 45:24 run) for 45th spot.
Both athletes made a huge improvement on their overall time, compared to the SA champs.
Penney completed the world champs course eight minutes quicker than the SA champs, while Hobson improved by 11 minutes. The two were part of a 25-member South African team which included Elite athletes Gillian Sanders, Lauren Dance, Richard Murray and Henri Schoeman.
Penney arrived back in South Africa yesterday, while Hobson will return to Grahamstown next week after some touring.
