DURBAN North triathlete, Henri Schoeman, strolled to his second elite men’s title at the KZN triathlon champs at Midmar Dam recently. The Commonwealth Games silver medallist finished a mammoth nine minutes ahead of his closest rivals.

This was Schoeman’s first race of the year and the 23-year-old used the provincial champs to test his mettle ahead of a busy International Triathlon Union (ITU) series.

“I haven’t taken part in local races in a while. It certainly wasn’t as pressured as a world series race but nonetheless, I’m extremely happy with the win. It’s a special victory for me because it’s my second elite men’s win,” he said.

“Being the first race of this year I also used it to see where I am and in terms of training and what more I need to do. I had a good race and was particularly pleased with my run.”

Schoeman admitted he had been putting a lot of time into strengthening his running game.

“It’s the most important part of a triathlon; it’s the last section of the event and one where you need to go the hardest. It’s all about who has the strongest legs in the run. I’ve also been doing a couple of half marathons to gear up for the ITU series,” he explained.

The former Oakridge College pupil runs his first ITU race in March in Abu Dhabi.