22 January 2012 – Tine Deckers of the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team has finished third in today’s Ironman 70.3 South Africa. Tine, second in the 2011 Ironman 70.3 South Africa, completed her first race of the year in 04:46:13. Defending champion Jodie Swallow (UK; 4:39:01) won the race. Lucie Zelenkova (Czech Republic; 4:43:56) came in second.

Fellow Belgian Marino Vanhoenacker won the men’s race, clocking in at 04:06:25. Ronnie Schildknecht (Switzerland; 04:12:56) finished second; Domenico Passuello (Italy; 04:18:37) completed the podium.

The Ironman 70.3 South Africa was the first race of the 2012 season for Tine and thus the first real test of her conditioning after the winter break. She came out swimming well. But Jodie Swallow had taken a blistering start, taking a five-minute lead. In the bike leg, her favored and strongest discipline, Tine moved from the sixth to the third position. Running a solid half marathon, Tine was able to hold on to that podium place until the end of the race.

“When you make the podium in the first race of the season, you have to be pleased. On the other hand, a stronger bike leg would have made for a better result,” Tine said after the race. “Despite Swallow’s lead out of the water, I did swim really well. Swallow is just a superb swimmer who really took it to the rest of the field today. It’s my cycling I am not pleased with. I felt like I had no power in my legs. I know I recorded the second-best time, which obviously is good. But I also know I can do a lot better. On the other hand, the half marathon went really well. I started the run at a controlled pace and after the first round I felt I had settled into a nice rhythm. So I ended on a positive note and recorded a good result. The Ironman 70.3 South Africa is also a fun race, so I am happy I started my season here.”

Complete results: http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=southafrica70.3&year=2012