A Dream Becomes a Reality

 

But to get there, it was four years of hard work, dedication, experience, sacrifices, and racing, and he needed to qualify, which he did by winning the Junior African Championships and by being the SA Champion.

 

DO IT NOW Magazine caught up with Wian to find out what it takes to become the Junior World Triathlon Champion.

 

Q: What does it take to excel as a triathlete?

Triathlon is a sport that takes a long time for an athlete to race at the top, and getting there is no easy task. To be competitive, you need to gain a lot of racing experience, especially internationally. There are also a lot of small things that can make a big difference to your performance, which you need to learn. You need to find the correct training routine that works for you and will enable you to become a stronger athlete. I still have a way to go to get to where I want to be come 2016, but it's something that I am totally committed to and work on daily.

 

Q: Who are your sponsorship partners?

Over the past two years, I've been fortunate to be sponsored by a number of fantastic companies, which have all played a role in helping me reach my dreams. Sponsor support was taken up a notch in 2010 when I started racing as part of the BSG Elite Team, sponsored by Business Systems Group (BSG). In the build-up to the Junior World Triathlon Championship, I was also very fortunate to have Triathlon South Africa come on board.

 

After winning the championship, I signed with a few new sponsors, who are also my current sponsors: Specialized Bicycles, Oakley, PeptoSport, FutureLife, Puma, Huub, Continental Tyres, and the High Performance Centre (HPC). I am also funded by SASCOC, as part of their Opex Programme. Triathlon South Africa had also just announced that their High Performance squad would receive financial support, and I am fortunate enough to be part of this squad.

 

Q: Tell us about your training leading up to the championship?

My training load and programme varied according to where I was in the build-up and type of track I would be racing on. For example, the course at the World Champs had three steep hills in a 5 km lap, so I focused heavily on hill work in my training schedule. During the week of a race, I followed a specific programme that would get me sharp and ready for the race lying ahead.

 

The HPC in Pretoria provided me with great training facilities, and I got assistance with my bike set-up, massages, nutrition advice, and sociology. I normally trained for approximately 30 hours a week, with a mixture of recovery sessions, endurance sessions, and key sessions that were very specific. What I especially enjoyed doing was going for a 20 km run early in the morning and witnessing God's great creations, while also releasing how lucky I am to do what I love every day, at a high level.

 

I had a few good training partners, including Rudolf Naude and Eddie van Heerden, with my main partner being Wikus Weber. In terms of coaching, you get no better than Lindsey Parry and Rocco Meiring, who have pushed me above and beyond what I thought was possible.

 

Competing was also a major part of my training and preparation for the World Champs, so I took part in a number of events. Some of the bigger ones were the South African Championships - 1st place; the Holten Junior European Cup – 1st place; Vienna Junior European Cup – 2nd place; World Student Games – 9th place; and the Junior African Championship – 1st place.

 

Q: How did all the training impact on your studies and family life?

I was studying part-time so that I would have more time to spend on training. My family is awesome! They are very supportive and try to get involved as much as they can, which is great!

 

Q: Did nutrition play an important role in your preparation?

Eating healthy is very important and played a major part in my performance. Although I didn't follow an eating plan when training for the World Champs, I tried to eat as healthily as possible and made sure that I took in enough fuel during training. Now I stick to an eating programme that has been put together by Nicki de Villiers, a dietician at the HPC, and it's working really well for me.

 

Q: What was the hardest thing you had to overcome to get ready for the big day?

Nothing, I had been waiting a whole year for this race and nothing could stop me or get in my way. I was more than ready too race.

 

With all the hard work done, I headed to Auckland in New Zealand two weeks prior to the race so that I could fully acclimatise and be as fresh as possible on race day, which consisted of a 750 m swim, 20 km bike, and 5 km run.