GEAR » PROFILE
5 MINUTES WITH ROHAN
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coach Kent Horner at the
end of 2016. The rest of the
story is basically coloured
in by a combination of self-
discipline and self-motivation
– to always find a better me,
everyday – a great coach and
supportive first contacts. It
was just a simple choice to
keep pursuing better results.
Gold in your age group at
the Isuzu IRONMAN 70.3
World Championship last
year was an enormous
achievement, especially
after so few years in the
sport. Tell us about your
qualification journey, and
what it meant to compete
and win in Nelson Mandela
Bay. To be honest, it never
really felt real that I could
qualify and compete in a
World Champs event. Due
to my past experiences in
sport, I felt I’d probably end
up in the B-team or miss that
podium by one spot again.
And I was okay with that. But
all credit must go to Kent, my
wife Aline, and my training
colleagues. They truly helped
me to create, shape and live a
dream that I can still not quite
believe came true. Racing
in general is such a massive
privilege, let alone doing it in
front of loved ones at such a
big event on home soil – and
them seeing how things just
came together on race day.
You’re a mechanical
engineer with a full-
time job who recently
got married. How do you
balance the demands of
work with your rigorous
training schedule and still
carve out some downtime?
Let me start by saying that I
think it is impossible to master
this art. I drop balls on a
daily basis. I personally think
that for anyone in this sport
Take us through a typical
week in the life of Rohan.
What sort of hours of
training do you put in,
and what do you like
doing when you do have
downtime? Generally, I do
10-16 hours a week in the
‘idling phase’ of training, then
I’ll build towards a maximum
20 hours a week for a race. My
available time doesn’t allow
for more training, but I’m an
athlete who performs better
with high-quality and lower-
volume weeks (I think!). For
World Championship last
year, I knocked out an average
of 18 hours a week over 30
weeks. It was roughly a 30%
quality/70% quantity ratio.
Lately I have been leaning
more towards 50/50, which
ell us a little about
your background
in tri. We know
you did mostly ball sports
at school in George, and
only started swimming
and triathlon after school.
How did you get into the
sport, and who or what
motivated you to reach
the level that won you
a World Championship
age group gold medal?
I was naughty as hell back
at school and could win any
international competition
in that, so I never really
competed at the top level in
any sport, basically ever. But
I did the XTERRA in 2016
and a flame got lit. I raced
with basically no training and
enjoyed it, so I wondered what
could happen if I actually
trained. One thing followed
another and I eventually
ended up at My Training
Day under the guidance of
juggling work and family,
time management is the
hardest thing to figure out! It’s
definitely my fourth discipline,
and probably my kryptonite
– even more so since I got
married. The eggs, toast and
slapchips bachelor life is
now something of the past
and I’ve had so many more
dimensions added to my life.
I have to work 40-plus hours
weekly, meet the demands
of a stringent training
programme and spend time
with my family (one wife, one
dog, one cat). And I need to
mow the lawn. It’s important
to know your priorities,
but I think a busy and well-
balanced life is also what
has been key to me reaching
my goals in the sport. The
industry I am working in
has really taught me that
there is lots to be gained in
high utilization, a term that
basically describes how well
you use your time. And I think
the answer is in that. Make the
most of every minute!