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17/10/2002 11:45 AM - (SA) SA team makes waves in Fiji 18.10.2002
A cameraman who is in contact with the South African team, competing under the name Team Mazda, reported that when he saw the team at 07:00 on Wednesday morning, they were in fourth position on the sixth day of the race, with Team Buff Axn from Spain four hours ahead of them in first place. He said the Spanish team had such a big lead because of a good hike through the forest aided by pin-point navigating. Two American teams, Golite and Montrail, are behind the Spaniards and are followed by Team Mazda. Apparently there is a very little time distance between the teams in second, third and fourth places and the pace they are setting is frantic. According to Franco Oosthuizen, a Somerset West adventure racer who has raced many shorter adventure races with Michelle, a report from Fiji on Wednesday morning stated that John Collins was ill and had been receiving assistance from his other team members - Michelle, Mark Collins and Philip Swanepoel. Franco said there had been many medical evacuations as people had fallen ill and many teams had also withdrawn due to team members becoming ill. Feet problems are also a common ailment. Hiking legs
On Wednesday the Spanish team had already put their sea kayaks into the water to complete the 100km of paddling around the hundreds of islands along the coast and were expected to reach the finish on the morning of the eighth day, Thursday (midday SA time). Franco said he had heard from the team's cameraman on Wednesday. He said they were fine and picking up the pace a little as John had started to feel a little better. "As soon as they can get to the coast and onto the water they will do better. They trained long and hard for the kayaking section of the race and should be able to keep their pace. "The Spanish team is far ahead of them but anything can happen at sea and they are still in with a very good chance of a top five finish." Franco said not many people rated the virtually unheard of South African team, but they soon started to take notice when they consistently finished among the top five teams in the various sections of the race. "The commentators quickly had to find out more about this team, but if they had checked beforehand they would have seen that they are very strong in most sections of the race, with excellent overall skills between them." John, who hails from Sedgefield, has competed successfully in many South African and international races. He and the rest of his current team also won the 2002 Adventure Quest Africa. He is highly skilled in canoeing, rock climbing, running, orienteering, para-gliding and kayaking. His brother, Mark, also from Sedgefield, is an adventure instructor and has had top places in SA and overseas races. Additional experience includes kayaking, climbing and paragliding, and he has won numerous orienteering championships. About the team
She has won many road races, the Argus cycle ladies race and many mountainbike and road cycling races, and has also competed in many duathlons and triathlons. Phillip Swanepoel, a radio technician from Middleburg, has won many SA adventure races and expedition races. Additional experience includes canoeing, climbing, kayaking, hiking, road cycling, duathlons, sprint adventure racing. He has also won numerous mountainbiking awards. "They are doing exceptionally well and much better than I thought they would do, especially when one looks at their opposition and the terrain they have had to cover. "I'm sure they'll manage to finish among the top five - their dream," Franco said.
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