Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 60

MULTISPORT
I am often dizzy when I come out of the water, so my
guide often has to keep me upright. Then he has to
keep me motivated through the run. They do crazy
work, these guys!” were maintaining our place until we punctured in a
corner of the bike leg and took a slide. We might race
together again in the future.”
David is fortunate to have several guides he can call
upon to train and race with, with the most prominent
being Cornel Botha. “We met last year in May and
started training together. Swimming was the trickiest
to master, because the goal was to do the 70.3 in East
London together, which meant a long, tethered sea
swim in a big crowd of swimmers. We trained part-
time till November, then kicked into full-time training
together, and he has become my core training partner.
He’s a quality athlete in his own right, and I can’t
thank him enough, because he has given me a lot of
commitment.” There is one other guide that David has raced with
this year, former Olympian and World XTERRA
Champion Conrad Stoltz. “We are both sponsored
by Altra shoes, and when I heard he had retired from
pro racing, I spoke to Altra and they put me in contact
with Conrad. We were going to race together back
then, but one rule states that a guide may not have
been racing at elite level within the previous year,
so we put those plans on hold. Then last year in
September, when I was planning my upcoming racing
year, I spoke to Conrad again and he said he was
keen. One of our better results was a sixth place in a
World Cup in Eton Dorney in the UK last year, and we
raced African Champs in Mauritius together this year.”
Another regular training and racing pilot is Rohan
Kennedy, who guided David in several top level
races this year, including Yokohama and the World
Champs in Switzerland. “We’ve been racing together
for the last few years, since 2016, I think, and he
is one of my original guides,” says David. Another
racing partner this year was Tim Toovy, who led David
through the race in Canada. “He is one of Rohan’s
friends and we’ve only raced together once, because
I needed somebody with no visa issues to go with
me to Canada at relatively short notice. He had to
learn to ride a tandem and guide pretty quickly, but
did a great job. We were fourth out the water and
Doing the Impi OCR
with brother Mark
World Champ Guide
David adds that some guides stick to just one
discipline, others can lead him through multiple
disciplines, and he adapts to the specific guides, or
the rules of a specific sport or event. “There is a big
difference between guiding in open water swimming
and tri swimming guiding. I have found that the open
water guides prefer having no tether between us,
while the tri swimmers prefer the tether. Not sure why
that is. For that reason, I did all my Midmar Miles
untethered. Also, the Robben Island to Blouberg swim
was untethered, because the rules are strict about
no touching anything or anyone from start to finish. I
had Anthony Pearce guiding me by swimming near to
me, to help me keep my line. He would just call me if
I started going off course. That was a very long, very
cold 7.4km swim!”
“The rules in triathlon are that you’re not allowed to
hold on to each other, except in specified leading
zones, like corners or narrow spaces, so we use a
piece of string with a loop on each end for those
events. The string may not be longer than 50cm, from
loop to loop, so that other runners won’t try to run
between you and your guide. On other runs, I like to
use a more rigid, pipe-like tether, especially on trail
runs,” says David.
Stimulating the Senses
When he’s not working or doing triathlon training,
David enjoys listening to audio books, or watching
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ISSUE 124 OCTOBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Western Province Champs
with Tyron Ingle
audio-described movies. “These films have a
narrator’s voice that literally describes everything in
the scene, all that is going on, so that I can follow.” He
also enjoys hiking, walking and going to the beach,
the occasional wine-tasting outing and other normal
activities, and says, “When I go walking or hiking, I
like to stop to feel flowers and trees, and sense the
scenery.”
Thanks to his triathlon success, he is also able to do a
fair amount of travelling, and he says this is definitely
a big highlight for him. “The best part of travelling is
when I can cycle around with my guides. That way I
get to hear and smell the things around me, versus
in a car or bus, where I can’t hear or smell anything,
and the guys always help me with descriptions of
what they’re seeing, like buildings, shops and people.
When we do drive around, I prefer the window open,
so that I can hear things around me, or get a sense
of openness in the countryside. When cycling, I can
focus on things around me, especially since I don’t
have to worry about steering!”
In Canada with new pilot Tim Toovy
Ironman 70.3 East London
with Cornel Botha