Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 59

MULTISPORT
Guided by Conrad Stoltz in the
Discovery Tri in Cape Town
Racing with Rohan in
Yokohama, Japan
degree. Back then I wasn’t aware of the technology
available that could help me, but I still got into
computer programming, and I’m still doing that today,
writing programmes for software packages. I do
sometimes run into problems, when the screen reader
can’t read things to give me feedback, but generally it
works for me.”
David lives near to work and can walk the short
distance each day with his cane, but going any further
does pose some challenges that he has learnt to
deal with. “To get around, I use all forms of transport,
including the train and minibuses, but thankfully the
Uber-type ride services have made travelling a lot
easier. Before that, taking trains was much harder,
because I first had to go into the city, then catch
my train in a crowd, and then count stops, since
they don’t announce stations here. I usually have to
ask fellow passengers, just to make sure, because
sometimes trains stop between stations, too, and then
I get off at the wrong stop!”
Going for a Run
In terms of sporting background, David says his
deteriorating eyesight put paid to most sporting
aspirations during his school days. “I couldn’t really
catch a ball, so I didn’t play much sport. I just ran
occasionally.” But that all changed when he moved
to Cape Town in 2010 and met Kenny Vine, a former
runner. “One day he asked me if I wanted to go for a
run, so we met up at the Constantia Cricket Ground
and learnt to run together by doing loops of the
field, holding a tether string between us. From there
we moved out on to road as well as running in the
Constantia Green Belt, doing up to 5km, then worked
up to 10km. Soon we were running half marathons
together, including the big one in Knysna, and I joined
the Wildrunner club.”
38km when I started cramping, but I finished in four
hours 24 minutes.”
David says the original plan was to work up to the Two
Oceans and Comrades ultras, but then his sporting
plans went down a different road when he got
involved in triathlon, so that Cape Town run remains
the only marathon he has completed. “In 2013 I went
to Durban to do the Midmar Mile, swimming with a
guide, and the following year I did the Midmar 8 Mile
Challenge, then did that again in 2015. In 2014 I also
started cycling, with SA Tandem Cycling for the Blind,
who found me a pilot to ride the Cape Town Cycle
Tour with, and I have ridden the Cycle Tour each year
since. Then in 2015 friends asked why don’t I try a
triathlon, so the Multisport Maniacs club took me for
my first brick run, and one of the guys said he would
take me through the sprint distance of the Discovery
Triathlon here in Cape Town.”
Having successfully completed his first few triathlons,
David was encouraged to go do the 2016 SA Champs
race in East London, and later that year he went back
to East London for a World Cup event, where he raced
against 60 of the top para-triathletes from around
the world. He was also selected to go Egypt for the
African Champs, and won his category. “I have now
been African Champ four consecutive times since
2016, and I’ve also finished second and third in World
Cup events in France and here in SA. It’s been great
to get into world events, but the competition is much
stronger.”
Guiding Hands
More success followed as David was selected for
the South African team to go to the World Champs
in 2017, and this year’s trip to Switzerland was his
second World Champs outing in national colours.
But here David changes tack from talking about his
travelling and racing experiences, to talk about his
guides. It goes without saying that one of the most
important aspects of his participation in sport is the
assistance and support his various pilots provide,
and David is quick to acknowledge the tremendous
help he receives from all his guides. “I know it can’t
be easy for the guys, especially in triathlons with
three disciplines. Just going through transition is a big
thing, as the guide has to watch both our stuff. Also,
Transition from bike to
run at the Discovery Tri
In 2014, David felt ready to go further, so entered
the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. For this one he
had a relay of guides, with Gert Wilkins running the
first 16km with him, then married couple Attie and
Candyce did shifts of 14km and 12km respectively.
“That was quite an interesting experience, because I
only met my guides on the Friday before the race, and
we did a few loops around the parking area to get the
hang of running together. I got a bit of a surprise at
59