Raynard Tissink and Caroline Koll have proved too strong for a quality field in the Vanderbijl Prestige Ultra Triathlon, which double as the SA Long Distance Championships.

BSG triathlete, Sander Berk, had a cracking swim, covering the 1.9km in the Vaal River in 24min 01sec and leaving Tissink in his wake, 80sec adrift. But once on the bike, Tissink was in a class of his own. Needing just over two hours for the 90-kilometre cycle leg through the flat roads of Parys, Tissink, once on the bike was never going to be caught.

The bike leg was an out and back course, giving Tissink a good idea where his opposition was, likewise they could see just how fast he was flying.

Berk in the meantime had his hands full. A 4min lead after the swim over Donovan Van Gelder, quickly evaporated on the bike and after 90km, Berk was 3min behind. But Berk is a class runner and not only ate into that lead but opened a 4 min lead by the end of the 21km run. Berk though, although also two minutes faster than Tissink on the run, had too much of a deficit from the bike leg to make up and had to settle for second overall.

The women’s race saw Dominique Donner lead out the water first, with Katherine Du Buisson right behind her. Riana De Lange and Caroline Koll were next. Koll then proceeded to eat in the lead of first De Lange whom she caught within the first 30km of the bike leg. Donner progressively fell back and Koll was left chasing Du Bussion.

“I came off the bike leg a bit further behind Kathryn than I wanted, so I went very hard in the beginning of the run. I’m glad it did not come back to haunt me.” said Koll who went past Du Buisson on the second of the three 7km laps that made up the 21km run.

Once she went past Du Buisson, Koll was always going to be the winner. “The run is my strongest event so I was very confident once I took the lead. I was surprised though by how good I felt. I have been clocking up some big miles in preparation for the Iron Man in April. But winning the SA title is really super. On top of the podium, finally,” she says referring to her second place finish at the recent JHB Tri Series.

The Vandebijl result is the identical result from 2003 when Koll and Tissink won the SA Title (Olympic Distance).