Maximilian Betts reunites with Namibian colours
The 22-year-old Maximilian Betts is ready to represent Namibia again on Saturday at the Africa Cup in the place of his birth, Swakopmund.
Betts told Sport Wrap about his early days growing up in Swakopmund, his recent years living and competing in Germany, the favourites to win the elite men’s race (starting 13:55 on Saturday at The Mole) and why this weekend presents a starting point to his return to competitive triathlon in the colours of Namibia.
EARLY SWIMMER
“I started off swimming pretty much from six or seven years old, and then say roughly as of age 10, started to get into it a bit more seriously, and then as of age 12 or so, started to do some swimming competitions. I went to South Africa for swimming competitions, went to Malawi, and so all representing Namibia.
“Then in 2018, I switched to triathlon after I was in the States for three months. When I came back to Namibia, I fully switched to triathlon.
“Then in 2019, competed for Namibia. So, as a youth athlete, I wasn't even a junior back then, however, I was racing in the junior age group. Did one Africa Cup event in Troutbeck (Zimbabwe), however, I was still pretty new to the sport. So, placement wise (11th), it was nothing spectacular to go on about at all.
“In 2019, I moved to Saarbrücken, which I believe is one of three Olympic training facilities for Germany in triathlon.
“I had amazing races there, just in terms of memories made. As a junior, I came third at the German junior nationals, then racing the elite nationals. And then also the domestic league within Germany, which also attracts a bunch of international athletes. I mean, multiple former world champions, which is always very fun and interesting to race with people of such caliber.”
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
“In terms of my expectations for Swakopmund now on Saturday, I'm really not expecting much at all from myself. I mean, I've been stepped away from the sport about two-and-a-half years ago.
“I've been working on the farm pretty much for the whole two-and-a-half years. So didn't have the time in the first place to even do a bit of running or this and that here and there. I fortunately had a pretty active lifestyle, but I didn't do any form of exercise during this time.
“I pretty much started training, slowly started getting into it, about the middle of December 2025. And then as of mid January, I started to really train again.
“So I've been back in it for about two months now. I'd say I've made pretty good and pretty quick progress from basically starting at complete zero again. After such a long break, your body really does work down pretty much all the progress you've ever made.
“However, fortunately, I've still got a lot of previous knowledge in the sport, which did help me a lot in the process of getting back into it. However, I'm really not expecting much anytime soon. Or at least not within the next few months, I'll definitely have to still put in quite a few big training blocks to really start to be where I'd say, okay, I'm starting to get somewhat on a decent level again.
“So I'm pretty much just doing smoke up now for fun, just to pretty much get back into the sport again, and see the fun side of it again.
WHO WILL WIN?
“In terms of who I expect to be frontliners in Swakopmund, so both Lasse Priester and Lasse Lührs, two Germans, they're two really, really good athletes.
“And then Valentin Wernz. I mean, know them all from having trained and raced with them in the past. And yeah, I mean, the three of them, they're very good athletes.
“And then obviously, you've got the likes of Panagiotis Bitados, the Greek athlete, he's phenomenal as well. I'm just not sure after last weekend, what his form is like, because it seems like he didn't quite perform to the standard that he's capable of.
So if he's not quite in the shape he wants to be in yet, that might just give the Germans a bit of an edge.
“I'm hoping for a quick swim and somewhat smaller or sizable group going off the front, which would obviously be in my favour. Because I believe I've been able to get my swimming back quite a bit quicker than my cycling and running. I think that's purely because of the fact that swimming is so technical. And fortunately, I was a very good swimmer in the past.
“So I think in terms of all the muscular side of things and cardiovascular, even though that still has a lot of room for improvement, I think purely because of the technical side of it, I was able to jump into it pretty quickly again. So I think for me, the best would be just a quick swim.
“I’m hoping that, say, six, seven, eight athletes go off the front and that I end up being in there. And if not, then the group behind that or the group behind that, however, I hope that I end up being somewhat further up front in the field out of the water. And hopefully that does end up going that way.
“I still really do need a lot of training to get my cycling and running back to where it was, as well as swimming.
“The two Germans, in my opinion, would be the two hotshots for the race. Maybe more so Lasse Lührs than Lasse Priester, because I know Lasse Priester has recently made the transition to middle distance triathlon now.
“So I think he's just doing the Swakopmund race for fun. So I believe Lasse Lührs might have the winning edge over the rest of the field.”
GOALS
“What motivated me to get back into the sport was pretty much, I somewhat always had the question in my head of what if, what if I continued? What if I didn't stop?
“After having spoken to Adele (de la Rey, of Namibia Triathlon Federation) a bit, and then also looking at the whole criteria for the Olympics and so on, I thought, okay, why not give it a shot? I mean, it's now or never, I'm young enough to do it, if my body's gonna allow me to do it it's now, not anytime later. So pretty much just seeing the joy in the sport again … enjoying races, that's pretty much what brought me back.
“And then in the back of the head, there's always the idea of perhaps making it to the Olympics, which would be very, very nice. That's pretty much how I decided to get back into triathlon again.”
