Nelson Mandela Bay Hosts at Strong Field for Ironman African Championship

The 17th edition of the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship is set to take place on April 03, 2022. With 888 athletes set to battle it out for IRONMAN World Championship qualification slots to race in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, as well as a strong professional field looking for a piece of the $100,000 USD total professional prize and the title of ISUZU IRONMAN African Champion, this is set to be an exciting day of racing.

Alongside the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship field, there will be 834 age group athletes who will be racing at the inaugural ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay hoping to grab a qualification slot to race the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George, Utah this year.

In the absence of defending champions, Maurice Clavel (GER) and Ruth Astle (GBR), a new ISUZU IRONMAN African Champion will be crowned this year in Nelson Mandela Bay. The male category will be tightly contested with a strong PRO field featuring the likes of Kyle Buckingham (ZAF), Nils Frommhold (GER), Joe Skipper (GBR), Jesper Svensson (SWE) and Bradley Weiss (ZAF).

The women’s field may be smaller but promises to be just as exciting with the likes of Susie Cheetham (GBR) making a return to the course she loves, Daniela Bleymehl (GER) looking to make a comeback after giving birth last year, and Kylie Simpson (AUS) who finished first at both the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns in June and GWM IRONMAN Western Australia in December last year.

South African athletes will also be hoping to make a big statement on home ground in the form of Natia Van Heerden, Mariella Swayer, Magda Nieuwoudt and Jade Nicole Roberts. This strong South African presence in the women’s lineup will undoubtedly be looking to stop the recent British dominance in the women’s field, with Brits Ruth Astle (2021) and Lucy Charles-Barclay (2019; 2018) having held the bragging rights since 2018.

“It is an exciting year for us, we just recently announced ISUZU as our title partner for both the IRONMAN African Championship and inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay. This makes them the title partner for all three of our races this weekend – including the ISUZU Corporate Triathlon Challenge, powered by Algoa FM taking place the day before” said Keith Bowler, Regional Managing Director of IRONMAN South Africa. “We’re also really proud to see an incredible growth in women participants in our events, with 21 percent of the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship field being women this year as opposed to the average usually being between 16 and 18 percent.”

With the updated South African governmental COVID-19 regulations to outdoor events, the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship welcomes back spectators, “The Nelson Mandela Bay spectators are what make this event so memorable for the athletes, we are known for one of the best spectator events on the whole IRONMAN circuit,” says Bowler.

Spectators wishing to enter the IRONMAN Race Village at Hobie Beach must produce either a valid Covid-19 Vaccination Certificate or a negative Covid-19 test not done earlier than 48 hours prior to the event as per new local governmental regulations.

Athletes at the 2022 ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship will take on a 3.8km swim at Kings Beach, followed by a 180.2km bike through the suburbs of Nelson Mandela Bay towards Seaview.

Athletes will then continue over the iconic Maitlands, before turning on De Stades Road. They will then continue back to transition along Marine Drive, completing this loop twice to make up 180.2km’s. The run will take athletes along the beach fronts of Summerstrand and Humewood to Flat Rocks. Athletes will complete a 42.2km run before heading down the magic red carpet to the finish line.

The ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay athletes will take on the same course, however, completing half the distance. These athletes will swim 1.9km’s at Kings Beach; bike 90.1km’s and run 21.1km’s before finishing on the red carpet at Hobie Beach

The full professional start list for the 2022 ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship is below:

SWIM

The one-loop 3.8 km (2.4 mile) swim starts at Kings Beach. Athletes head out to the first ROKA turn buoy and turn right swimming parallel to the shoreline. The course then goes past Humewood Beach all the way to Hobie Beach before turning and heading back towards Kings Beach.

The IRONMAN African Championship makes use of a rolling swim start. Athletes will swim a one lap 3.8km course in the ocean. The course is rectangular and swum in an anti-clockwise direction.

BIKE COURSE – 180.2 KM

The IRONMAN African Championship bike course is arguably the most spectacular on the IRONMAN world circuit. The two-loop 180.2km (112 mile) bike course takes athletes right out of Transition along Marine Drive towards Settlers Highway. From here athletes will continue through the suburbs along Walmer Boulevard (M9) / Heugh Road / Buffelsfontein, through Mount Pleasant and over the hill to Seaview. From Seaview athletes will continue along to the Village of Beachview and over the iconic Maitlands, before turning approximately 1.3km from De Stades Road. From this turnaround point, athletes will return along the same route to the intersection of Seaview & Heron Road. Here you will turn right onto Heron, left onto Sardinia Bay road, right onto Victoria Drive where you will descend into the quaint seaside suburb of Schoenmakerskop. Turning left onto Marine drive to enjoy sweeping views of the ocean, the rugged coastline and adjacent countryside all the way back to Kings Beach where you will start your second lap.

RUN COURSE – 42.2 KM

The 42.2 km (26.2 mile) run course takes athletes right out of Kings beach to Perrot Avenue for the first turnaround, heading back through the Summerstrand and Humewood beach fronts along Marine Drive, to Flat Rocks to turn for the second time. Once you have completed 42.2km’s, you will enter the finish line chute at Hobie Beach and head down the magic red carpet of the Finish Line!

RACE COURSE DESCRIPTION: IRONMAN 70.3 NELSON MANDELA BAY:

SWIM:

The IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay makes use of a rolling swim start. Athletes will swim a one lap 1.9km course in the ocean. The course is rectangular and swum in an anti-clockwise direction.

BIKE COURSE

The IRONMAN 70,3 Nelson Mandela Bay bike course is arguably the most spectacular on the IRONMAN world circuit. The one-lap 90,1km (56mile) bike course takes athletes along Marine Drive towards Settlers Highway, through the city and along Seaview Road to the villages of Seaview and Beachview, Over Maitlands and returning via Sardinia Bay and Marine Drive. Enjoy sweeping views of the ocean, the rugged coastline and adjacent countryside on your way back to Kings Beach.

RUN COURSE

The Run Course is a fast, fairly flat route along the beachfront. Take in the sea breeze and enjoy the last leg of the race before running down the magical red carpet at the finish line.