Jazz mixes it with the best
Van Rensburg has a sequence of target triathlons on the long-range radar and still plans to add back-to-back Comrades Marathons in 2020 and 2021 to his expanding bucket list.
Despite setting modest goals for his himself, Jasper ‘Jazz’ van Rensburg far exceeded expectations in his maiden Ironman World Triathlon Championships in Nice, France, earlier this month.
The Benoni Small Farms SA duathlon champion, who remarkably added triathlon to his endurance gamut just 15 months ago, was the best South African finisher in his age group (40-44) out of 16 locals and ended 13th overall out of 161 SA entries across all the age categories.
“I looked at previous World Champs and realised I was well out of my depth. The top guys are all seasoned professionals. I made it my personal goal to race my own race with those I could realistically compete with at my own level and in that respect, I accomplished everything I set out to,” said van Rensburg.
As anticipated, he said the swimming leg had been extremely demanding in very warm conditions and he had lost time in the water, but the key was not to panic.
The excessively warm water conditions (25.6 degrees) and the fact that competitors were not permitted to use wetsuits did him no favours, but he compensated incredibly well by making up time on the bike and running legs.
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With all said and done, van Rensburg was more than satisfied with the outcome, which vindicated the hours of intense training he put in under the astute guidance of coach Casper Moodie and taking into account his short stint to date in triathlon.
“I am over the moon. My first instinct was to finish. I kept telling myself ‘don’t crash the bike and don’t push too hard or try keep up with the faster guys’. I had to be disciplined within myself and my own limits.”
