Joseph Van der Merwe has shown the resilience and determination of a true champion this year as he overcame the challenges of his school commitments, injuries, illness and the concurrence of the running and swimming seasons, to achieve third place at the SA Biathle Championships last week.
Earlier in the year, he won the Gauteng Biathle championships, in an SA champs and World champs qualifying time, which secured him a spot at the SA Championships which took place last weekend in Pietermaritzburg.
His training after that was intermittent, to say the least, because of the challenges mentioned. Nonetheless, he competed in a provincial gala on the 27 June where, despite minimal training, he did some of his best times in the breaststroke and butterfly. In the 50m breast he finished 2nd in the over-17 category, against an excellent field.
From there it was straight to the SA Biathle Champs and, following the exam season and a helter-skelter period of illness and limited training, Joseph did exceptionally well, finishing 3rd. He also received his Protea Blazer at the awards evening.
Congratulations Joseph, you are truly inspirational. We are proud of you.