A new generation of Rainbow Nation triathlete stars is on the rise

In recent years the sun has set on the international careers of three of SA’s brightest female triathletes — Olympians Kate Roberts, Gill Sanders and Simone Ackermann.

But more recent times have seen the rise of a new generation of Rainbow Nation stars and at least two will be looking to shine at the Old Mutual Wealth Africa Premier Cup in Gqeberha on Sunday.

In Amber Schlebusch and Jayme-Sue Vermaas SA has two youngsters who could strike gold around the world. Schlebusch, 21, won the 2018 Youth Olympics title in Argentina and Vermaas was in action for Team SA at the previous version of the games in Nanjing, China, four years earlier.

Both ended 2022 in fine style, Schlebusch winning the prestigious NCAA Division One championship and Vermaas took second in the Division Two championship.

Schlebusch and her fellow Arizona State University sports aces are nicknamed the Sun Devils and have won the elite collegiate division six years on the trot. She also won the elite women’s category of the Americas Triathlon Cup in Sarasota earlier in March but flight delays meant she could only arrive in SA on Tuesday, giving her scant time to acclimatise before Sunday’s race.

The Youth Olympics gave her an instant place in global sports history but it also proved a burden and the start of a barren period.

“It was a big title at a young age,” she admitted this week. “People started talking about the Tokyo Olympics which were scheduled for two years later. I felt heaps of pressure and very much under scrutiny but thankfully I have a great support system both in the US and at home.

“I started university the same year as Covid-19 hit and my Freshman year was nothing like it was supposed to be. There was no socialising, no sport, my SA accent was foreign to everyone ... it was a lonely time.”

And then she also got Covid-19. “It was a matter of time, all my teammates were getting it, and I got it real bad for about three or four months and had respiratory and heart rate issues.”

So it was tough for a young woman for whom triathlon is a coping mechanism for life. Things got better during her sophomore year in 2021 and she managed to see her parents early in 2022 before taking an extended break from sport during the US summer to focus on her biomedical degree studies.

“In hindsight, the break did me a world of good as when I did start  training I was so eager and felt a total mindset shift.”

On her NCAA triumph, a huge deal on the US sports scene, she says: “I just had the race of my life and it was amazing after the two years I’d had — my mom was there to see it, which also made it extra special. Since that day my whole life seems to have shifted to a better place and I can feel positive things are coming.”

As for Bloemfontein’s Vermaas, 25, she spent four years at Drury University in Missouri where she became immersed in both her sport and studies. “I studied clinical and behavioural neuroscience and sociology and now I’ve just started a radiology degree back here in SA.

Hard times

“I grew so much as a person in the US,” reflects the former SA junior champion. “There were hard times but I made some of my closest friends there, many of who I still talk to daily and managed to get All-American colours for cross-country and triathlon and for triathlon the previous year and also raced 5,000m and 10,000m on track.”

As for her expectations on Sunday, she says it’s “still weird being back on SA soil again but I’ve had a lovely break and will just ease into things”.

“I don’t have a result in mind. I just want to tick boxes and have fun. Obviously, I want to gain some points towards the world and Olympic rankings but what I’m really looking forward to is the fact that it’s a standard Olympic distance [1,500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run], which I prefer way more to the shorter sprint distance.”

Schlebusch says Sunday will be uncharted territory for her. “I don’t feel too much pressure as it’s my first competitive Olympic distance event and I’m probably a bit undercooked so will just go as hard as I can.

“My main goal will be to be as adaptive as possible — to deal with anything on the day and hopefully turn it into something spectacular.

“Also my mom will be there from Durban and my dad lives in Port Elizabeth so it’ll be very special racing in front of them — it doesn’t happen very often.”

The men’s race has its own dynamics. Racing in his hometown will be rising star Jamie Riddle whose never-say-die efforts at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham put him on the triathlon map.

Still just 22, the athlete who admits to being “totally immersed in triathlon” opened his season with a 20th spot at the Abu Dhabi leg of the World Championship series earlier in March.

Just 10 sec ahead of him was Olympian Richard Murray, who in recent years has undergone both heart surgery and a change of nationality — he now races for the Netherlands.

One thing’s for sure, Gqeberha’s not going to be shy of Sunday action. Irish rock band Thin Lizzy had a hit song titled, The Boys Are Back In Town. As it happens, just for this weekend, so are the girls!