Stan seals top 10 finish in Buffalo City

South African amputee and para- triathlete, Stan Andrews competed in the 2015 Buffalo City ITU World Paratriathlon event earlier this month.

The event had 39 men and women international triathletes competing in five categories.

The men’s PT4 category had 16 entrants and Stan was one of six South Africans who competed.

First up was the swim and Stan said it was with a heavy side current that affected all the competitors equally.

Entrants were given the opportunity to make use of a pre-transition, where athletes are able to remove their wetsuits and put on their prostheses in an area near the water.

“Despite having competed in many other triathlons, the pre-transition was a first for me and I feel it cost me valuable seconds,” said Stan.

This caused his Transition 1 time to be 30 seconds slower than in previous events.

The bike course followed which went well for Stan, who feels that cycling is his weakest discipline of the triathlon events.

“The wind helped me climb back up the express way and after the bike course I was ready to jump into Transition 2,” said Stan.

The run was challenging for Stan who, after overtaking fellow South African competitor, Nico Nel, was in 10th place, 28 seconds behind Spaniard, Rafael Solis Torres.

At the end of the day, Stan placed 9th out of the field due to the disqualification of a fellow competitor for unknown reasons and was the first South African to finish.

In two months time, Stan will compete in Egypt with the goal of scoring enough points to compete in the Grand Final in America.

“I wish to thank all those whose contributions made this weekend a success, namely, TSA and Buffalo City, as well as Biogen and NoExcuses who contributed to the cost of the trip,” said Stan.