Simbisa Brands joins Triathlon Cup Troutbeck sponsor group

Fungai Muderere 

SIMBISA Brands Limited, a fast-food restaurants operator, has been included in the list of 2023 Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Troutbeck sponsor group, B-Metro Sport has learnt. 

Simbisa Brands will now back the annual sporting event alongside Coca-Cola, Schweppes, Cimas i-Go, CFAO Motor Group, Ecocash and Rooneys.

Event director Rick Fulton said Triathlon Zimbabwe was pleased to have another blue-chip brand coming on board to bankroll Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Troutbeck.

“We are very excited to have yet another blue-chip brand come on board for this event, now in its 15th consecutive year. We welcome Simbisa Brands on board and hope that this will be the start of a long relationship with the sport and the event. As with our entire sponsor group we value their loyalty and commitment to this event and we sincerely hope that they benefit exponentially from the branding, marketing and media exposure,” said Fulton. 

Simbisa Brands Limited has an extensive footprint in Africa, with outlets in Zimbabwe and 10 African countries that include Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius, Botswana, DRC, Malawi, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zambia. 

The fast-food restaurant group is a spin-off from Innscor Africa, a Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) -listed manufacturing group in Zimbabwe.

This year’s Triathlon race is set to take place on 1 April at Troutbeck Resort, Nyanga.

“The preparations for the 2023 Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Troutbeck are well underway and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) is now starting to gear up for the event. LOC are fine-tuning for the various arrivals and departures of athletes from Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport to Troutbeck Resort and return. 

“This exercise entails detailed planning for the Triathlon Zimbabwe “Meet-n-Greet” team to coordinate the incoming international and regional athletes that will compete in the Elite Men and Women’s categories and also the Junior Elite categories for Junior Men and Women,” said Fulton. 

At this present time, the start lists as published by World Triathlon on their website include a total of 16 Elite Men and 15 Elite Women from 18 countries. 

Athletes will be travelling from a number of European countries that include Mexico, Chile, Guam, Japan and Bermuda.

The 2023 edition will also see the return of two-time Troutbeck Elite Men’s gold medalist Ayan Beisenbayev from Kazakhstan who will be hoping for a hat-trick of victories at this tough event.

Other returning athletes to Troutbeck include Dylan Nortje and Shaun Wolfaardt from South Africa. Wolfaardt won the 2022 Troutbeck Africa Triathlon Junior Cup and has now moved up to Under-23 level.

Also making a comeback will be Badr Siwane of Morocco, Martin Demuth from Austria, Michal Oliwa from Poland, Meirlan Iskakov from Kazakhstan and Laurent L’Entete from Mauritius. 

Elite Women returnees are Shanae Williams who was the runner-up in 2022, Bridget Theunissen and Jamie-Sue Vermaas all from South Africa. There are also athletes from other African nations that include Togo, Mauritius and Mozambique.

It was revealed that for the Africa Triathlon Junior Cup Troutbeck, so far, 13 Junior Elite athletes have been registered. Still to be added are the Zimbabwean contingent of Anje Van As, Matipa Mawere, George Ascott, Nicole Madya, Duwan Botha and the Mthethwa twins, Mandlenkosi and Musawenkosi. 

Junior athlete representation from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe will make up the Junior Elite field.

With three weeks still remaining until race day, the organisers are confident that more athletes will join their respective start lists.

For the local athletes there is a full schedule of supporting events that will offer participants a variety of events related to swimming, biking and running formats, plus the added spectacle of their families and supporters being able to watch the Elite and Junior athletes compete at this high level of international triathlon competition.