Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 46

MULTISPORT
is strong and I can use that to my advantage,” she
says. Her results included second overall at the ITU
Discovery Cape Town Tri, fourth (and first 18-24) at
the MiWayLife Sun City Ultra Tri, an age category win
at Ironman Raperswile 70.3 in Switzerland, and fourth
18-24 at the 70.3 World Champs in Durban, along
with various other podiums.
Taking to Tri
Michelle did her first tri just over a month later at the
Slanghoek Triathlon, which doubled as the Western
Province Champs race, and when she finished third
overall and second in her age category, she was
selected to go to the SA Champs early in 2016. The
Jailbreak Triathlon gave her some more experience,
and then she found herself at SA Champs in East
London, finishing second in the 18-24 age category.
“I had an awesome race and that gave me lot of
confidence that I had chosen the right sport at last,”
she says.
“I kept competing in the shorter distance tri’s after
that, getting quite a few podiums, including third in my
cat at the i5150 Zurich in Switzerland, and later that
year I did the Durban 70.3 half Iron, just for fun and
experience, and finished second in my age cat again.
That meant I had qualified for two World Champs
meets in my first year in the sport, although I chose
not to go to either Worlds. I didn’t feel ready yet.”
Future Plans
Michelle was born in Switzerland but has spent
most of her life in SA, after her parents came here on
holiday and fell in love with the country, then moved
here, bought a wine farm and her father tried his hand
at winemaking for 10 years. She completed a Diploma
in International Hospitality Management, but soon
found that working in the hotel industry simply did not
fit with triathlon training, so instead she did a course
in Exercise Sciences and is now supplementing her
triathlon income with coaching long distance and
sprints for the schoolkids at Somerset College, as well
as with sports modelling with the ErgoSport Agency.
“I am really enjoying the coaching role, and my long-
term goal is to become a full-time coach in triathlon,
so I have also done a certified Ironman coaching
course. This year my boyfriend Paolo and I are
planning to launch a coaching business. He is also
a triathlete and will handle all the media and online
stuff, while I will be the main coach. It is hard to get
your name out there and make a living from triathlon,
so I am focused on building my profile as an athlete,
The following year brought still more success as
Michelle once again finished second (18-24) at SA
Champs, won the 20-24 category at the off-road
XTERRA SA Champs, was first overall in the age-
group race at the ITU Discovery World Tri Cape Town,
added another second place (18-24) at Durban 70.3,
and was on the podium at various other events. “I
qualified for the XTERRA World Champs and was
selected for the Cross World Tri Champs, but off-road
was not my focus and I didn’t go to either, but I did go
to the World Tri Champs in Rotterdam, Holland and
finished 19th in my age cat. I didn’t do as well as I’d
hoped, but that’s because I struggled with the cold
conditions. It was only eight degrees on the day and I
virtually had hypothermia!”
Last year saw Michelle sign up for coaching by top
pro Matt Trautman, and that helped her step things
up still more. “Up till then I had focused on the
Olympic distance races, but at the beginning of 2018
I shifted up to the 70.3 distance, because my bike
46
At this point, Michelle returns to talking about her
failed track career and anorexia nightmare. “Athletics
didn’t really hit the mark with me, and that eventually
led to depression and anorexia, but I’m not looking
back now that I have found triathlon. It saved me
from the anorexia, and now I want to use my sporting
talent and results to show others how it can help
them overcome the depression and sickness. With
anorexia, they say that if you are in it for more than
two years, it will always be with you, so I am still very
focused on what I eat, but not in an obsessed way,
more in terms of how do I nourish myself and perform
in my sport, and become the best athlete, without
overdoing or underdoing it. At age 20 I weighed just
47kg, now I am fit and healthy, but it does haunt you...
and I don’t want to know where I would have been
now if I hadn‘t found triathlon.”
ISSUE 114 JANUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
1.5km event, which was nerve-wracking. Later that
day in the duathlon, I bombed it on the first run, went
all-out, then had a decent bike because I could draft
other riders, but on the second run I had nothing left
in my legs. I finished sixth and still had fun, but that
weekend made me decide never to do a duathlon
again. I am far better with a swim, bike, run combo.”
Looking ahead to 2019, Michelle says she is looking
forward to a big year. “I will be doing the Ironman 70.3
in East London for the first time in January, and I’m
excited to test myself on its tough bike leg. I’m aiming
to qualify for the 70.3 World Champs in Nice, France
later this year, as I will be going to race in Switzerland
in May and it will be easy to pop over to France while
I am in Europe. Switzerland is my back-up plan to
qualify if things don’t go to plan in East London, but
it’s not the end of the world if I don’t qualify. I plan
to do seven or eight 70.3s this year, with the aim to
build myself mentally and physically to enable me to
become a professional, so it’s not just about winning
or qualifying, it’s about the process and putting in the
hard yards this year.”
establishing myself as a coach, and at the same time I
hope to inspire other would-be athletes.