Beaulieu equestrian star has her eyes set on a new challenge
BEAULIEU — Equestrian star Arina Niyaki is training to compete in upcoming triathlons.
Equestrian star Arina Niyaki (17) is going from strength to strength in sports that use a different kind of saddle.
The Beaulieu College learner is a regular on the podium in the eventing world and is a South African National Equestrian Schools Association (Sanesa) Eventing Nationals winner for three years straight.
But after getting her own bicycle seven months ago, Arina took up competitive road cycling and earned a podium finish at the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
She finished the 109km in just 3:45:47 to finish in third place in the U19 division.
The latest news her side is her joining the Pure Symmetry Multisport triathlon club, where she has been training hard during lockdown to compete in triathlon (swim, cycle and run) events as soon as they start again.
“Our head coach, Matthew Franzsen puts together our training programmes and what we have to do for each day,” Arina told the Midrand Reporter.
“For example, I have got an hour-and-a-half indoor cycle today. I had a run yesterday, I have a run tomorrow and then usually I would have an open-water swim on Sunday, so at Emmarentia [Dam], and then a pool swim on a Monday morning as a recovery.”
The Pure Symmetry Multisport group also meets at the Cradle of Humankind on Saturdays to cycle together. Then on Sundays they meet to run together and swim as a group at Emmarentia Dam.
She added that coach Franzsen sets their training out to have a ‘test week’ followed by a ‘rest week’ in their programmes. She hopes to compete in the Knysna Extreme 0.5 in November, if it happens.
This event includes a 2.5km swim, 100km cycle and 30km run.Arina hopes to have a good start time for the 94.7 Cycle Challenge, which is determined by her finish times at other races.
“The earlier you start, the less heat you have during the day. At the Argus [now called Cape Town Cycle Tour], if I had started a bit later, I would have caught the wind and the rain but because my start time moved earlier… we had amazing conditions.”
She also hopes to beat her time at the tour next year. Arina’s ultimate goal is to compete at the Ironman World Championship.
