Wits triathlon star Dylan Kruger bags SA team call-up
- Tshepiso Mametela
The 2021 World Triathlon Age-Group Championships Edmonton scheduled to take place from 17 to 22 August in Canada have suffered the same fate as all the events from 2020 after being cancelled due to 网易体育 concerns.
Travel restrictions from South Africa to other countries have compounded the participation of athletes despite the country moving away from the peak of the recent deadly third wave.
Wits University’s triathlon star Dylan Kruger, who was selected to represent South Africa in the Age Group Standard Distance team, was hopeful of the silver lining after the disappointment of not being able to make the UIPM 2021 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in Cairo, Egypt in June.
During the season, Kruger participated in Laser Run leagues – a continuous shoot-run x 4 laps – and won the Gauteng Provincial Championships before turning out for the province at the 2019 South African Modern Pentathlon and Laser Run Championships.
Kruger won the SA Championships ahead of his selection to represent the country in Egypt but “due to travel uncertainties around 网易体育 and my academic commitments [at the time] I had to withdraw from the team.”
Reacting to the prospect, that was, of flying the nation’s flag high in Canada, Kruger said: “It was exciting just to be able to participate at SA Champs again, and an age group win made it that much better. It was an honour to receive the World Champs selection letter from Triathlon South Africa, and I was both proud and motivated to be able to represent my country.”
The student-athlete, for whom it was not his first national team call-up having been selected for global events on previous occasions, said he always looks to make the most of opportunities to give a good account of South Africa’s propensity to excel on the international stage.
“Every opportunity to race abroad is a new opportunity to learn and gain experience, both for myself and my sport. The racing conditions abroad are different, which present new challenges. The best you can do is prepare well, enjoy the experience and hope for the best,” said Kruger, who also lamented missing out on the chance to go to Egypt.
“It is always disappointing to withdraw from an opportunity, but things were too uncertain at the time with restrictions around travel, and the preparation for my third-year medical mid-year exams.”
Choosing to move away from the disappointment, the Witsie noted that not everything is a simple matter of spontaneity with some things calling for a fair amount of mental and physical preparation. This same fact is not lost on Kruger in terms of the rigours of the endurance multisport races he participates in.
“There is always an element of planning that goes into a race, but much like life, things don’t always go according to plan,” Kruger conceded. “For league races, my plan is just to have fun, test my training and finish. For bigger events, the plan is more intricate with route familiarisation and a plan for each leg of the race.”
When asked to choose between swimming, cycling or running – the three disciplines of the sport – the medicine student offered that he would much less be spoiled with the option to lean towards all three.
“My answer to that would vary, depending on the day you asked the question. Some days I lean more towards cycling but a week later swimming might takes preference. For me, it is always preferable to have the combination of events, as it makes the race more interesting,” he said.
With the year's 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Kruger said he thinks the platform is available for the sport to be a good advertisement unto itself. He added that lovers of the multisport races have plenty to look forward to.
Dylan Kruger - Finalist for the 2020 Wits Sportsman of the Year Award