By GARY LEMKE in Lilongwe
The reality of the Region 5 Youth Games is that there are tomorrow’s sporting superstars lurking amongst us. It’s just, when you’re in the heat of the competition, you don’t quite know who they are.
The likes of Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk famously cut their teeth at these Games and went on to win Olympic gold, while dozens others have competed at the highest level. The 2018 standout was swimmer Lara van Niekerk, who earlier this year won double gold at the Commonwealth Games.
So, we know that among the 250-odd athletes representing Team SA in Lilongwe, Malawi, there will be future household names. Even if there are no future Olympic champions, it’s guaranteed that there are athletes here who will compete at the Olympics, as well as the Commonwealth Games and World Championships going forward.
Swimmer Simone Moll, who added the 50m breaststroke gold to her collection on Tuesday, might be one of those. But, as she says, “it’s impossible to think too far ahead. The ambition and desire is there, but it’s about getting better and staying mentally strong.” A wise head on 17-year-old shoulders. On Tuesday she won the 50m breaststroke in 32.07, not far off Lara van Niekerk’s Games record of 31.93.
Another who might be destined for bigger things is the Team SA swimming captain at these Games, Petrus Truter. He picked up another three gold medals in the morning session – two individual and one relay – to add to his gold from Monday’s somewhat chaotic opening day, where a session was lost due to issues with the starting blocks.
This is not Truter’s first rodeo in the Region 5 Games. In Maseru last year he won two gold medals but in the past 12 months he’s grown both in size and stature. Now a strapping 19-year-old, the Paarl Roos Gym product is ready to take the next leap forward in his career. He added the 200m freestyle and 100m breaststroke to his 50m breaststroke gold from Monday and then took his medals tally to five with three PB’s.
“The 200 was a good swim, but the back end wasn’t that great. I felt quite fatigued in the last 100. The breaststroke (100) was a bit disappointing. It was 1:04 but I’ve felt better in the water before. But in swimming these setbacks come and go. It’s about how you bounce back.” You have to remind yourself that he was talking about two gold medal swims as “setbacks”. It suggests that his eyes are on the bigger prizes.
“I was selected on this team for the first time last year and it’s an ongoing honour and privilege. There’s no specific selection criteria for this event, so I’m really glad to be part of this team. It all started with a dream to swim in the Olympics one day. I’m fulfilling that dream and I need to keep that goal and fire going to achieve it. I know that the training is relentless and there are hardships along the way, but you’ve got to keep pushing through it all.”
The 19-year-old started swimming at the age of seven. “It was actually in Saudi Arabia. My dad moved the family over there after he accepted a job offer and we stayed there for two years before coming back to South Africa in 2012. While we were in Saudi my mom said that I should take up swimming and we discovered that I had a talent for it. When we returned I joined Maties and have been coached under the guidance of Pierre de Roubaix ever since. Pierre is the Lane Leader Director and Keith Jansen is head coach of the programme.
“My idol is Michael Phelps. I still get goosebumps over what he did at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (eight golds) and it inspired me. But there’s a bigger picture. I respect and am inspired by what he’s gone through as a person and his struggles. That inspires me to be a bigger person and to make a difference. Of the current generation I really admire Caleb Dressel and Kyle Chalmers.”
Truter doesn’t have any fixed ideas as to what he wants to do with the degree he is studying for, but he’s adamant he doesn’t want a 9-5 desk job. “That’s definitely not for me! I’m going into his second year as a Bachelor of Science Sports Science student at Stellenbosch University, and it’s a jol and a half, I love it! I haven;’t thought too far ahead, but I was planning on biokinetics, because it will help me stay in sport. It’s a big part of who I am, I have a lot of energy and I need to move around. The ideal would be to swim internationally and getting an income from that, but if that doesn’t work out, then I’ll always have my degree to fall back on.”
Coming from the Stellenbosch winelands region, and someone who is mixing swimming, studies and time with friends, one might imagine that he is developing a taste for the grape? ‘Actually no, I’m not a big fan of wine. But I like my whiskeys … I see myself becoming a bit of a connoisseur (laughs). And a bit of rum, extra spice.”
And no doubt he will also get a chance to taste champagne, because if he finds himself at the Olympics one day, you can be sure the corks will be popping in the Truter household.
Photos: ROGER SEDRES
