The Sunday Mail
Grace Chirumanzu
THE lifeguards at South Africa’s seaside resort town of Margate got used to plunging into the water to save a stubborn boy who had an ambitious quest to reach a sandbank out in the sea. The boy who gave them nightmares each time he came to the beach with his family has grown into a man – and one of Zimbabwe’s most promising triathletes.
Drew Williams (18) has raised the country’s flag high at international competitions and is touted as an Olympic medal hopeful.
One gets the feeling the Olympic medal would have come earlier had Williams, who represented Zimbabwe at the 2014 Youth Olympics, chose to concentrate on swimming only.
“I was originally a swimmer but it became too boring and not enough of a challenge, in fact,” reveals the St John’s student.
“Then I realised triathlon consisted of three sports and fell in love with it. I started challenging myself and taking the competitions seriously. I like it, it’s great.
“I love the challenge, it makes me so strong mentally and physically.”
Williams recently proved his worth the ITU World Championships Grand Final in Chicago in the United States.
His final placing of 50 in a field of 75 does not tell the full story but his personal best time does.
Williams’ mentor, Toby Coote, is the head coach at the Sunshine Coast Triathlon Academy in Australia and is impressed with the Zimbabwean’s performances.
“I believe Drew was disadvantaged with the race being a duathlon,” he said.
“If it had been a triathlon I think he could have placed better but he did the best he could, posting a personal best of 16,13 in the first 5km run leg.
“It set him up for a great ride and he pushed through the final run. That was not bad considering it was his first World Championships.
“Now he knows the level of the best in the world and what to strive towards. He is excited to keep working and progressing to reach that level.”
The Olympics are Williams’ ultimate goal.
“I really want to go to the Olympics, represent this country, get Zimbabwe out there again now that Chris Felgate has retired from elite triathlon. I want to keep the Zimbabwe name going,” he says.
The promising triathlete – who will be sitting for his Advanced Level examinations this month – knows that only hard work can take him to the top.
“There is a lot to sacrifice, I love my sport and don’t mind doing it at all. A normal day starts at 6am when I wake up and have my breakfast, and then I go to school up to 1:30pm.
“Straight after that I go to the swimming pool do a swim for about an hour or an hour-and-a-half. From there I go for a cycle or a run depending on what day it is.
“That will take about two hours. I get home at about six and eat dinner. And that’s on an easy day,” he says.
“On a hard day, I normally start at about 5am with an early morning run or early morning swim then its just school and back to training in the afternoon.
“When I was training for the Youth Olympics I would leave school early and go train . . . I had about four sessions a day.”
