Lieuwe Boonstra is South Africa’s reigning XTERRA Champion. Juggling his day job with a rigorous training schedule is challenging, but Lieuwe has focus and total commitment. It doesn’t leave time for anything else, but Lieuwe loves what he does, “It’s a lifestyle thing, I really enjoy this lifestyle.”
Lieuwe is one of South Africa's most established triathletes. He is a triple SA Short course triathlon Champion, SA Olympic Distance Champion, multiple podium finisher at the African triathlon Champs, double SA student Champion, Olympic Squad member and has finished on the podium in International Triathlon Union (ITU) events.
At school he played tennis competitively, but when he was 16 he got tennis elbow and started running to keep fit. He enjoyed it and started swimming too. He then bought his first bike a couple of years later and started competing, and came 3rd in his first SA Champs. "It helps when you do well, it keeps you motivated.”
More recently he has shifted his focus from the conventional road triathlon to the more extreme Xterra triathlons, which is an off-road form of triathlon consisting of swimming (1.5km), mountain biking (35km) and trail running (10km).
He is now the South African Xterra series champion, which includes wins in Knysna, Natal and the Free State. Internationally he has finished 3rd in Xterra Wales and Denmark respectively, in 2007, 5th overall in the 2007 European series and 12th at the 2007 World Xterra Championships held in Maui, Hawai. Other notable performances include 7th at the Xterra European Champs in 2007, 4th at Xterra Denmark 2006, and 4th at Xterra Italy and 5th at Xterra Czech, both in 2005.
| 2007 Season |
| 1st Xterra Knysna |
| 3rd Xterra Denmark |
| 3rd Xterra Wales |
| 7th Xterra Italy (European Championships) |
| 5th overall European Xterra series |
| 12th Xterra World Champs Maui, Hawai |
| 2005/2006 Season |
| Totalsports XTERRA Overall Series Champion |
| 1st Xterra Richards Bay (KZN) |
| 1st Xterra Gariep (FS) |
| 1st Xterra Knysna |
| 4th Xterra Denmark |
| 8th Xterra Wales |
| 10th overall European Xterra series (1 race less than required) |
| 20th Xterra World Champs Mauii, Hawaii |
| 2005 Season |
| 2nd Xterra South Africa |
| 4th Xterra Italy |
| 5th Xterra Czech |
| 2004 Season |
| 1st South African Triathlon Championship |
| 2nd Xterra South Africa |
| 3rd African Triathlon Champs |
| 1998 - 2002 |
| Triple South African short Course Triathlon Champion |
| Double SA Student champ (1998/99) |
| Energade series triathlon champion (2001) |
| 2nd All African Triathlon Champs (’98, ’00, ‘02) |
| Member Olympic Triathlon Squad (1998-99) |
| 2nd Portugal ITU points race (2001) |
| 4th Copenhagen ITU points race (2001) |
| Multiple Energade Race winner (including wins in Pretoria, Kwazula Natal, Mauritius, Namibia) |
| Multiple Clanwilliam Triathlon Festival Winner (2000-2003) |
Comments
Add a comment