Paralympian Situ and Noemdo Bag Berlin Medals

Stellenbosch para-athletes Kerwin Noemdo and veteran Paralympian Zanele Situ are both buoyant after a successful Berlin Open Grand Prix meeting in Germany, writes MARK ETHERIDGE.

In his first major international competition, Noemdo took part in the F46 shot put final and picked up bronze with an African record 13.91-metre heave. Ahead of him, the gold and silver medal distances were 15.21 and 14.39 respectively.

Both are coached by long-time Stellenbosch coach Karin le Roux and are part of Maties Parasport and Maties HP, a facility that has also made a huge difference to their performances.

Situ, 47, grabbed a full house of medals in her three events.

First she grabbed gold in the F54 javelin final, the five-time Paralympian landing a fine 17.41m to win by a yawning 5.55m. Then in the discus it was silver in a personal best 15.12m as Chilean competitor Mardones Sepulveda won with 16.12.

There was also shot put bronze for Situ with her throw of 5.41m in the F54 classification final. Winning distance was 6.93 and 5.87 secured second.

‘My Berlin trip was very good,’ said Situ, in typically understated manner. ‘I enjoyed it very much and my three competitions went well. I’m very happy with both my performances and may distances.’

It was Noemdo’s first experience of the international stage. ‘This was my first time going on a European training camp and for a couple of competitions. It was an amazing experience and I’ve learnt a lot from the short trip.

‘One of the highlights for me was the ease of access to top-class training facilities on a regular basis as well as being able to compete against some of the best athletes in the world and gain some valuable experience.

‘I’ve also learnt some valuable lessons on which is the best way to approach competitions for myself and that knowledge gained is priceless.

‘I think one of the major contributions to my distances is the gamble which coach, Le Roux and I took to change my technique completely, from the rotation to the glide.

‘I think that was one of the best decisions we’ve made after last year’s world championships. Also, with the help of my prosthetic made by Michael Nel and my strength and conditioning coach Nico Koutakis [he also works with Situ], I was able to put in a good physical base during the off season which clearly paid off over the last month or so.

‘I’m happy with the results, but not entirely because I know I can do much better and there is definitely room for improvement. But I know it’s a slow process which I’m looking forward to tackling on the road to Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.’

As for Le Roux, who along with Situ is up for nomination at the annual Sports for Women Awards (as coach and Situ as an athlete), she was happy with her charges’ performance.

‘We has a great two weeks of training, lovely weather and being surrounded by Olympic athletes in your training environment brings something different to training in a way.

‘In Berlin Zanele again showed her style and did a season’s best distance ending on a 17.41m , which is also better than the distance she did last year at world champs. She executed her technique so well, and really applied what we have been working on.

‘Zanele is a big favourite in Germany and we were really treated by the love we received there. It was Kerwin’s first European tour and we decided last year after world champs that international experience is a high priority on the list for him.

‘He grew so much as an athlete in these two weeks. He was focused, but also relaxed and I think he learnt to approach international competitions differently, not focusing too much on the outcome and not putting pressure on himself.

‘His African record saw him move up to No6 on the world rankings which is really a big achievement for him, taking into consideration that he’s never thrown over 12m internationally before.

‘I really want to take this opportunity to thank SASCOC for their continued support for Zanele and Maties HP for the services provided to both Zanele and Kerwin.’

Source: www.teamsa.co.za