Latest Piece in December Getaway Magazine

Q and A with Cameron van der Burgh

Note this article was commissioned by SA Sports Illustrated.

How do you swim breaststroke?  What’s the secret?

Breaststroke is the most technical of all the strokes.  You need good timing, control and rhythm. If you get too excited, or try too hard, your hands and legs start to work against each other. The tall guys struggle, because in breaststroke you need a high stroke rate, and to do that you need to be able close your legs at the end of each kick quickly. It’s also about having a good feel for the water.

Are you the captain of the South African swimming team?

I’ve sort’ve been assigned to mentor some of the up and coming swimmers with a focus on 2016. My focus is 2012. So I’m more of a big brother and I try to share some of the tricks of the trade with guys like Chad le Clos and Charl van Zyl.  You learn from experience that small things at our level can make a big difference in the end.

Such as?                                                                  

Walking in slops. At the Commonwealth Games you walk around a lot. If you wear slops it tires your calves out, and by the fourth or fifth day you really start feeling it.

And how is Ryk involved?

Ryk is my agent.  He manages my media; he gets sponsors for me.  He has got a lot of contacts, he knows how to sell and he’s done well in terms of sponsors.  My main sponsors are Investec  and Tag.

I started swimming when I was four, and was burned out by the time I was twelve.  But you got a very late start didn’t you?

I’ve been swimming since the age of 11 which is a lot later than a lot of people.  It started at an Interhouse competition at school.  I hadn’t really swum before and I won.  In 1998 I swam for Northern Transvaal B, the following year for the A team, and in 2000 I made the South African team for the first time.  I was 20 years old when I swam my first Olympics in 2008.

How did you do?

Mixture. I went into the Olympics ranked 16^th.  I did well in my heats; I was ranked fourth going into the semi final.  I was so ecstatic I couldn’t sleep.  But then we had the finals in the morning in Beijing. Television channels in the States paid a lot to switch around the times, because we usually swim the finals in the evening.   I slept about two hours and then missed the final by something like 0.02 seconds. So it messed us all around. I’m better now at controlling my emotions.  It comes down to that experience thing. 

So what have been some of your career highlights?

I’ve broken 11 world records. In 2009 I got gold at world championships.  In Delhi I beat the reigning 100 metre world champion, Brenton Rickard.  I’m currently the world record holder in the 50 metre breaststroke [26.27 seconds] and in the short course [25m pool] in the 50 metre and 100 metre breaststroke [25.25 seconds and 55.61 seconds respectively].

What was India like?  Did you have any problems with the crowd?

I didn’t think it was that bad.  The first two days it wasn’t that crowded.  A lot of tourists didn’t make the trip because of the threat.  In the last three days they cut the admission prices and from then on the stadium was packed.

I’ve seen your physique.  I don’t think I’ve seen a swimmer with a bigger chest than you.  Is it genes, gym or graft?

I’m a sprinter so it’s all about power.  If you lose your power you lose your rhythm and you start going nowhere really fast.  You just die.  Training hard when your body is developing, you know from a young age, definitely translates to big shoulders.  Even the girls experience that. And breaststroke is such a power stroke. To do well in breast you have to be shorter, stockier and stronger. LJ van Zyl [400m hurdler] laughs at me when I run, because I have stubby legs and big torso.   Physique comes with the training.  I swim 11-12km per day, 30% of that is breaststroke.  If we do more we start to hurt the knees.  And we do a fair amount of gym work.  Lots of pull-ups [he can do 75 continuously] benchpress, clean and jerk...

What’s your poison?

I really love coffee.  I’m a real coffee addict.  Tomorrow we’re shooting for Top Billing and they’re going to teach me how to brew the beans, what temperature to heat the milk.  I enjoy Vida e’s Cappuccinos.  In Pretoria we don’t have that many though.

You seem really relaxed. Aren’t you strict about diet?

I listen to my body.  But if I’m craving a chocolate or a cup of coffee I’ll have one. I can afford to eat a bit of junk food because we just burn it all off.  One day it will be a lot more difficult because as you get older you put on weight easier.

What about goals?

I’ve already achieved most of my goals.  [Broken a world record, world champion and Commonwealth champion].  All I’ve got left is to become the Olympic champion.  Thanks to funding from Sascoc and sponsors, and my coach Dirk Lange, I’m on track.

You look a lot like Graeme Smith.

[Chuckles] I get that a lot. Everyone in the world has a lookalike.  I know some of the cricketers and it’s not an insult to me.  I’d really like to meet him.

Mzanzi Down Under

In February this year I jetted off to Perth, Australia, and for an entire month I bicycled, boated, flew, took the train, hired a car or hitchhiked all the way round the island continent. I arrived back in Perth 28 days later, physically and financially a shadow of my former self. Going home, platsak, I realized this devilishly hot and humid country doesn’t put Mzanzi in the shade; not by a long shot.

Australia has their iconic yellow and black kangaroo sign right? Well we have our jumping kudu framed by a red and blue triangle. Our flying kudu is way cooler. They have Bell’s Beach, we’ve got J-Bay. Earth’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, isn’t such a big deal. For starters it’s miles offshore and it’s in a remote part of the country. Once you’re there it’s like any other reef, just bigger. But let’s dig a little deeper, shall we.

Good Railways, Silly Road Signs and Police on Steroids

Australia’s public transport is top notch. All of their big cities have the equivalent of a Gautrain except for Darwin, which was flattened in 1974 by a category 4 cyclone. Although theirs are beautifully integrated and modern cities, Australia is unfortunately an extremely expensive country, so much so that Australian’s fly outside Australia when they go on holiday, to cheaper places like Bali and Phuket.

For a gigantic country like Oz, the 110km/h strictly enforced speed limit is excruciating. And another kind of nanny-state hell exists for those road users stuck for hours on the road: plenty of ridiculous road signs and a hundred extra rules to abide by. There are warnings for everything; from crests to dips in the road, from signs cautioning about soft sand on the beach to unexpected waves.

You can be fined at the airport for bringing foreign dirt into Australia [check the soles of your shoes], or, gasp, your favorite cereal. The thinking goes that a stray oat kernel might sprout in a sand dune and infiltrate the Outback.

8 Times

You might think a country 8 times the size of South Africa [and the world’s 6th largest country] would have 8 times more to offer, but unless you’re a sand salesman, you’d be wrong. Australia’s size means it’s moer far to get around. Nullaboor in Western Australia is as flat as a pancake. The track that crosses the Nullaboor is the world’s longest straight section of railway line in the world. Ja, it’s pretty boring.

Perth, 3300km from Sydney, is one of the world’s most isolated cities. Imagine having to travel from Cape Town to Pretoria just to get halfway to Johannesburg.
But the number one issue facing this mammoth country, believe it or not, is climate change.

Heat

Crime can seem like the worst problem in the world, but it’s fiddlesticks compared to Australia’s climate conundrum. It’s ironic that being the world’s number one coal exporter, Australia has the highest per capita level of emissions in the developed world, and they’re reaping a whirlwind of climate problems In February they have to endure constant, unbearable heat across the length and breadth of the country.

When I visited Melbourne’s average temperatures were the highest since records began. Many other centres set new all-time records too. It was hot, and rainfall was either absent or miserly figures like 0.2mm for the entire month. In Perth we measured the heat ourselves; at 7pm it was still 37 degrees Celsius. This heat turns Australia’s forests into a tinderbox, and when they burn the damage is catastrophic.

On a trip to the famous Pinnacles Desert two hours north of Perth the mercury shot up to 44C in Cervantes. Imagine standing with your ankles in the sea, and the rest of your body feeling like it is stuck in a gym sauna; the air so hot it pinches the soft linings of your nose. The Pinnacles is basically a graveyard of rocks in a sandpit the size of 5 rugby fields.

Humidity

I found the humidity a problem everywhere in coastal Australia, from Perth, to Sydney, with Darwin being the worst. Without an air conditioner in Australia you’re toast! At night you lie naked except for a scrap of underwear in your tent; you’re a pathetic, heaving foetus, trying to survive overnight in the sauna conditions. You’re covered in a permanent film of sweat, bugspray and sunblock. You wonder, maybe it’s your own body heat and breath causing the infernal heat in your tent – but when you open the tent flap at 4am it’s just as warm outside. And how do Australians suggest we cope with the infernal heat of the day? “Take hot showers,” they say.

Further up the coast of Western Australia is the attractive town of Broome, one of the fastest growing centres in Oz. It has camel rides on the beach, a section that boasts the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world [except it’s underwater] and special gutterless roofs because when it rains it pours so much the water literally rips the gutters off the eaves.

Jellyfish

Broome seems like a lekker place. Cable Beach has that classic sickle shape. But you realize something is wrong when it’s the height of summer, it’s mid to high thirties and uncomfortably humid, and despite the national holidays, not a soul is swimming in the sea.

It turns out that this is one of a bunch of nasty consequences of climate change haunting virtually the entire coastline: floating clouds of poisonous jellyfish and stingers. I scoffed at the warnings at first, until I was stung by something so small I couldn’t see it. It left a yellow bruise on my chest for weeks.

This was one of the most frustrating aspects of visiting Australia. The height of summer, and miles and miles of gorgeous coastline but it’s too dangerous to swim in the sea. When I visited the Great Barrier Reef we all had to pay for stinger suits, which effectively cover 90% of your body. But you can still get stung on exposed parts like hands, feet and cheeks. What’s the fun in swimming in summer dressed like a glove?

Wallabies VS Springboks

When the nickname for Australia’s national animal is also the longer version of a term we use to say someone ain’t too bright, you’ve got to hand the trophy to the Boks. In contrast to a Wally, a Bok is up for anything. Calling someone a Bok is a compliment. Kangaroos, in Africa, against our predators, wouldn’t last more than a few blinks after sunset. And that should put paid to the question surrounding whether the Wallabies are better than the SpringboksBut here’s the clincher. The fact that you can buy boerewors and biltong in Australia, and it's called boerewors and biltong, says a lot about what a lot we got. In every area we give Oz a real run for its money.

Getaway magazine [September 2010]

Wild, wild Shingwedzi
Nowhere is better for those close encounters than Kruger’s northern camp of Shingwedzi. Here the highest proportion of Kruger’s big 5 come out of hiding, with the biggest of the big 5 especially famous here. Now you know why people keep coming back to this camp – by Nick van der Leek

“We won’t stop for lion or leopard, as I’m sure everyone has seen enough of those.” Our Ranger, Matthew, about to take us on a game drive, reminds us how nature has been coming to us here, rather than the other way round. Just north and south of the Shingwedzi camp are some of Kruger’s largest concentrations of big 5 sightings. Vlakteplaas, on the northern side, gets the most, so concentrate your game viewing just north of the camp.

Hide and seek is the name of the game being played out in Nature day in and day out, and it can get a bit slow out there sometimes, looking for animals whose survival depends absolutely on a critter’s ability to remain unseen. The best wild places then are those where abundant animals come to you so you don’t have to go searching for them. But mention Shingwedzi and invariably you’ll hear someone say, “I love that place. We go there often.” And people come back to Shingwedzi for exactly the same reasons the animals do – they know what to expect; and they know they have a good chance of finding what they want.

Shingwedzi, incidentally, is derived from a Tsonga word that refers to the KRRR shriek of metal objects rubbing together. Perhaps it is a nod to the particular density of the regional foliage and animals that evokes this unusual noise, associated perhaps with material ‘closeness’.

Green and Warm

One of the reasons for Shingwedzi’s charm is it’s not the hive of human activity that other camps falling plum on the beaten track are, like Satara and those further south. But it’s more than that. Tanya and I are visiting in July, midwinter, but on this side of the Tropic of Capricorn it’s t-shirt warm, and the increasingly remote surrounds have gone from an autumn bronze, a lovely fiery orange in the rain-washed sunlight, to a brilliant, shining green, teeming with buffalo and elephant. That’s the other thing. Just this northern region of Kruger [as opposed to the far north and Punda] is home to more than half of Kruger’s elephant herds. Elephants are visible virtually every day in the riverine area close to camp and they’re often seen crossing the road. There's also a resident troop of baboons visible rampaging on the river’s sand flats just a kilometre from the camp entrance. These are a favourite food of another resident hunter, the leopard. The tall, dense, leafy surrounds are perfect for these predators.

The landscape is gently undulating bushveld with the occasional outcrop. These infrequent natural turrets sporting huge grey boulders are often home to baboons and some or other historical significance, such as those found at Red Rocks [where there is also a resident lion pride]. Kruger probably hasn’t changed since humans first arrived here. Well, other than a strip of tar and the style of the flashing vehicles sliding along these slim corridors.

We approach from the Phalaborwa Gate due to its proximity to the main highways, and the distance from greater Gauteng. For us the idea is to get into Kruger as soon as we can, but not necessarily to our camp. It’s 131km to Shingwedzi following the H-14 and H 1-6. Another option is Punda Maria Gate further north, but I’d suggest this as a better option for exiting the park than entering. Of course if you’re pressed for time [remember the speed limit inside the park is 50km/h] from Punda it’s half the distance compared to the Phalaborwa route at less than 70km to Shingwedzi. The Phalaborwa option presents a long leisurely road, an option that rewarded us with a mamba, puffadder, hyena and plenty of birds and elephants. The large number of buffaloes we saw almost certainly explains why so many lions are here, and Shingwedzi’s reputation for its record of big 5 sightings.

With the sun having just set, 6km left to Shingwedzi, and just 5 minutes to Gateline [Kruger jargon] we find the road in the distance blocked off by a wall of grey.
About 2km further we are delayed by a pair of ultra sensitive Great Eagle owls [also common to this area] silhouetted against the grey ashes of a cigarette sky. While they’re telescoping towards rustles in the grass, and we have long lenses focused on them, 3 vehicles pass us in quick succession. We set off, watching the time tick over to 5:31pm. This is the common dilemma visitor’s face. Arriving before gates close at faraway camps.

Lion Around

Just around the corner, with around 1km to go we find all three vehicles stopped dead, abreast of each other, and in their headlights, two beautiful lions, a large male and female, standing in the road. We’re on the main H1-6 road. The local ranger, Matthew, later informs me that this is a often seen breeding pair, and that there are three resident prides floating around Shingwedzi with the Babbelane pride being the biggest with 25. In fact southern Kruger has more lions

The female is very relaxed, enjoying the male’s riveted attention, she lounges on the warm tar while the male paces around her, paws her tail, sits, and makes another pass. Finally, one of the vehicles inches forward on the gravel of the right hand verge, and I slide into his slot. The male bristles at this encroachment; the vehicle inches further, and then the male advances with The Look, and the Toyota’s white reverse lights come on, and we’re back where we started. I hover for a moment and try a few moments later down the left verge. As we pass the Toyota the driver says to us, “Not a hell.” I go as far to the left as I can, hover, watch, and then see if they’ll let me pass. The lion lovers are so laid back, they won’t mind me. At about 3 metres the male is up and I hit reverse; next minute the lion is about to run so I stop [they say don’t run away from a lion, does the same apply to driving?], and he abruptly turns and goes back to his fiancé.
“He was right, ‘not a hell’.”
It’s interesting, sitting high off the ground, protected by a powerful capsule of metal and glass, and you have a male lion holding 4 vehicles with fines to pay, at bay. That’s power.
10 minutes later we’re through the gate, none the worse for wear. The lion encounter is a thrilling highlight to close off the day’s game viewing.


Mopane Country

Shingwedzi is nestled right beside the Shingwedzi River in mopane [aka elephant] country, close – but not too close – to the river’s flood level. This really does give visitors that ‘back to nature’ vibe. Unlike Olifants, which is perched high above that magnificent river, and has awesome scenery but is somehow a little detached from the surroundings, Shingwedzi’s camping sites, huts and bungalows conspire to create a community. So it’s kind’ve cozy. The limited use of paving, the tall palms elbowing the tall thatch cottages and the abundance of squirrel filled trees make Shingwedzi the sort of space that you want to braai in and sit around outside. There’s not much of a view, but isn’t that what game drives are for?

The next morning I walk between the camp’s fever trees and palms to note the recent sightings posted at reception. Everything, from leopard, to wild dog, and most of it on a dirt road that starts on the east side of the camp [right behind our bungalow where a Bateleur likes to brood]. So we follow the gravel road [23km along the S50] that skirts the Shingwedzi River. This is one of the best known drives in the whole Park. It has dozens of mini loops to get you closer to the river, and the elephants love this area for its massive trees towering over the verge of the river. It is here that we spot our first crocs, and a bunch of terrapins. Further down we see the bloated carcass of a hippo floating in the middle of the river, with a croc fastening a napkin to his throat before thrashing down some lunch. We also find bigger tuskers in this area, and we’re not surprised to learn that one of Kruger’s largest elephant males, Machichule, haunts this Shingwedzi River area. This Kanniedood Drive takes you south, down as far as the historic Dipeni dipping tank, linking up with the Mashagadzi Waterhole Loop on the S134.

The area around Shingwedzi is lovely and teems with life. It’s 200 metres lower than Punda Maria, so it’s warmer and greener here than just an hour or so further south, but be warned, William, the manager tells me July is usually full every year. During our visit there is a constant [and let’s admit, irritating] stream of vehicles. Although the rest camps offer drives, sometimes, often, you’ll see more from your own vehicle, and you can take it all in at your own pace.

Red Rocks

Another great day time trip is the Red Rocks Loop, across rivers, forest and woodlands along the S52. This route takes you to a number of viewpoints, and the Red Rocks site is just one to recommend. Eons ago the Shingwedzi River eroded a sandstone slab and cyanobacteria took over further decay. Look out for Dwarf Mongoose, vervet monkeys and elephants.

On our night drive the highlight was two Marshall Eagles sleeping in an Apple Leaf and a Bushbaby that most of us didn’t see [what does that tell you?]. We see a lot more here during the morning and late afternoon than after dark. Part of the reason for this is the vegetation is particularly closed and bushy around Shingwedzi. The local ranger, Matthew, says there is a resident pride of 14 lions so you’re virtually assured of seeing these on your visit. Also make sure to visit the Shingwezi Bridge just around the corner from the camp, where you are allowed to alight from your vehicle and take some photos. It was a very popular spot when we were there, and it’s a lovely place for sundowners and a quick social. Another useful spot close to the bridge is labeled ‘Confluence’ and is also worth checking out.

While braaiing under a sky shot through with stars on our last night, and using some locally purchased meat [and it must be mentioned, delicious] in front of our cottage, Tanya and I discuss the setting of the bush and animals at Shingwedzi, taking in some of the highlights of our day. Shingwedzi is so close to nature that in 2000 the restaurant overlooking the river was actually flooded.
“Did you notice how everything seemed to turn green as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn?” I say.
“It started when we saw that rainbow, and when the sun started to really come out,” Tanya observes. If you’re looking for a pot of gold under a Kruger Park rainbow, you won’t find it. What you will find is a treasure of another sort – wild animals. Lots of them. And you can do far worse than the critters that come to you at Shingwedzi.

Getaway Magazine [September 2010]

Shibula Lodge in leopard country – review by Nick van der Leek

“If you were a leopard, this is where you’d want to live.” During an afternoon game drive, Brett brought us home through a beautiful kloof hugging riverine brush forest.  With the growing gloom of dusk throwing the headlights of the vehicle and the torchlight between twisting branches, it is easy to imagine one of the Big 5 watching us from some perfectly camouflaged position.  It’s true, we watched it happen with a Cheetah: once a spotted coat stops moving, it immediately dissolves into the Waterberg’s pristine mountain bushveld.

Earlier this year, Brett, the ranger at Shibula Lodge in the Welgevonden Reserve, spotted a female leopard with her two cubs.  They were in the bush just around the corner from the lodge.  It turns out that statistics bear out these suspicions of ideal leopard terrain. A recent study conducted jointly by Lourens Swanepoel from the University of Pretoria and the Centre for Wildlife Management, using rotten eggs and fermented fish, they lured leopards into camera traps.  Preliminary estimates are for about 30 leopards (22 adult & 8 sub adult and juveniles) on Welgevonden at a density of 6.1 leopards/100km², giving this area some of the highest density for leopard cubs in South Africa.

Shibula Lodge is an immersive experience, the lodge feels part of the surrounding landscape, and has a slight feng shui feel to it.  This may be thanks to the individual plunge pools, or perhaps the delicious Kudu steaks.  The view from the dining room balcony presents near symmetrical views as hillsides appear to rise and fall in mirror images on both sides. 

Shibula has had a herd of elephants marching through the camp earlier in the year, and while we were there baboons shouted from the nearby rocks of a beautiful kloof.  Lions are occasionally sighted too, around this Lodge, named after another Big 5 local, the Rhinoceros.

It’s a wonderful relaxing stay in the heart of the Waterberg, ideally situated [3 hours drive]for Gauteng’s city slickers.

Lodge Score: 4/5

Contact Details: +27 [0]882 82 06

                        +27  [0] 82 788 5100

Email: reservations@shibulalodge.co.za

www.shibulalodge.co.za

Current specials: R1550 per person per night sharing – valid to 31 July 2010

Luxury in the bush at Lukimbi

I first mistake the flashes up ahead for lightning. But it's three lions holding up traffic on the road to Lukimbi and the occupants of nine vehicles are photographing like there's no tomorrow in the growing dusk.
When we arrive at Lukimbi, in the greater Southern Kruger National Park, it's after dark and raining. My partner is grumpy and I'm just plain tired. We've been on the road for a few days now after covering over 4 000km - I am really hoping Lukimbi is every bit of its five-star rating. We pull in flustered and hungry and generally out of sorts. The valet parking service quickly gets the car and everything else out of sight and out of mind.

We're ushered through khaki interiors, warm without being dark, rich and romantic without being stiff or stifling. Our luxury suite feels like stepping into an intimate corner of a local village; it has some lovely thatched nooks and crannies, lots of asymmetrical designs which someone went to a lot of trouble to conjure up and then build. Very quickly we're very sorry that we didn't arrive hours earlier, because it is so easy to just love being here.
And Lukimbi, it turns out, wins the Kerfuffle Award.

Read the rest.

Raynard's Return [published in June TRIATHLETESA Magazine]

How do you win an Ironman? Is there a magic formula [as there is for the Tour de France?] I asked South Africa’s toughest athlete, 2010 Ironman winner Raynard Tissink to shed some light on what it means to be an Ironman Champion again, and again – by Nick van der Leek.

“No,” Raynard says, “there unfortunately is NO magic formula. If there was, I probably would not have finished 2nd for 3 consecutive years. It all comes down to proper preparation and more importantly putting everything together on race day. I went into the last 4 IMSA events, confident that I was in excellent shape and that I would be in a position to win. Punctures, pure nutrition, illness and other outside factors played a part in how those races turned out.”

So luck is a factor. You can improve your chances with preparation, and even push yourself into being a virtual certainty, but Lady Luck also comes into play, especially during a race as epic and filled with possibilities as the Ironman.

“So you can never be guaranteed going into a race that things will work in your favour. I think every IM athlete goes into the event hoping for a perfect day, hoping that his nutrition, his mechanics, his health, his energy will be good on that day. The only thing you can guarantee is putting in the work before hand.”

Tell us about the lowest point you were at before this win. You had a few injuries and so on. When was your motivation at rock bottom and what did you do?

“I think the lowest part was last year when I had to withdraw at 7km into the marathon of IMSA. I didn't know that it was asthma, and thought the chest pain was maybe related to heart problems. I thought that this was maybe the end of my career. But, after visiting specialists, discovered that it was asthma and that it was treatable.
Of course, everyone thought that it was an excuse and that my days were numbered. What more motivation do you need - other than to prove everyone wrong!”

How confident were you of your chances going into this one?

“Hey, every race I enter, I enter to win. So, of course I was confident of my abilities. I think my injury to my ankle which forced me out of the 70.3, and forced me to rest was a blessing in disguise. I had 2 complete rest months and only started training in January. Honestly, I wasn't sure whether I had enough training in me, because I know everyone else had been training since Sep/Oct last year already. BUT, the training I had put in had gone really well, so I was hoping for a good performance.”
And why was that?
“I had put in some really big bike weeks prior to the race in AbuDahbi and my biking in that race had gone really well. I had also focused more on my running, and with the help of Alec Riddle (who has coached many of SA's top marathon runners), I was confident of my running abilities as well.”

Please talk us through this race. Did everything go according to plan?

“No, nothing went according to plan. My plan had been to swim with the leaders, sit back on the bike and run really well. As it turned out, I had a bad swim, and came out 3 minutes behind the leaders. This changed my plan completely. So, I decided to still hang back on the bike, but at 100km we were just on 7mins behind and I couldn't hold back any longer. I felt the guys around me were getting too weak and decided to put in a burst of speed to break things up.

At 160km the gap to the front was about 4min, but after 60km of hard riding it was time to back off again to recover for the run. Even so, my legs were still a little tender coming home but the body and mind were ready to hammer. I also managed to pick up Anton Storm in the last 5km which meant I was up into 4th position off the bike. After a leisurely transition, I set off on my marathon. [Mathias] Hecht was leading @5,5min. Anton Storm @3,5min and Daniel Fontana @2min. James [Cunama] was 4,5min back, so by no means out of the picture. I tried to start slow for the first 2km, trying to let the legs loosen up a little, but 3:49 and 3:56k's didn't help that cause. So, I decided to just go for it. I felt fantastic, so just kept going, and luckily for me - it paid off.”

When Lance broke his collarbone last year during the Tour of Italy people thought that was it, and yet within a remarkably short time he came back. There was a study done with university students where they showed if they were forced to lie down for 2 weeks they could lose up to 10 years of physical conditioning. So after that injury, to your ankle I believe, what were you doing? Do you head to the gym in a cast and strengthen arms, how does it work?

“As I mentioned above, I had a complete rest for 2 months. It was great to actually have 1 Christmas with the family where they didn't have to fit everything in around my training.”

Are you on Twitter?

“Yes, raytissink”

On Facebook you describe what you do as: 'Wake up early, sweat blood all day, finish work late, go to sleep, repeat 7 days per week.' When do you rest? What happens the day after an Ironman win? How long does it take before you're training again?

“I've taken 2 weeks slowly now. Rested for 2 complete days, then started swimming again. Only ran and cycled again a bit in the 2nd week. This is now the 3rd week after the race, and training is back into full swing now for the races ahead.”

Okay a few very specific questions: what was your resting heart rate, average heart rate on the 25th/and maximum? What's your current body fat %? How did these compare to other Ironman races and is it something you try to stick to?

“I have no idea what my HR was as I don't race with a HR monitor. My current body fat is 6%.”

What do you have a background in? And do you think you can go faster than a 2:52 [Raynard ran a 2:52 in the March 25 Ironman?

“I used to run cross country at school and then got into canoe triathlon originally. Yes, Natalie helped with my swimming. It was by far my weakest discipline when I started. I have run a 2.49 marathon in an IM before - at IM Austria in 2005. I definitely think I can still go faster than that.”

Do you still use Moducare for your immunity? What about Vitamin B complex?

“I believe 100% in Moducare. I also take Vit B, C, Iron, Zinc and magnesium.”

You're going to Hawaii - what's your 'handicap' there, and what are you aiming for?

“I'm hoping to go to Hawaii. Yes, I've taken the slot, but unless we can come up with R150 000, we won't be going. Any South African travelling to Hawaii has a huge handicap competing in Kona. The time change is 12 hrs, the travelling time is 36hrs, the heat and humidity is extreme. So, a South African training alone over here, and then hoping to go over a couple of weeks in advance is wasting their time. You need to base your self in the same conditions and train with and race against the World's best if you want to realistically compete with them.”

Will you be doing any specific races before Hawaii, even smaller cycle or run events?

“I am racing a 70.3 event in Germany on June 5th. Then I am doing the Challenge France race on June 13th. I will also be racing the ITU World Long Distance Championships on Aug 2nd. If I can raise the money for Hawaii, I will race 2 more 70.3 events in the States before Kona.”

I have trained with Ryk Neethling who is about 8 years younger, and I've raced with you a long time ago and seen you race - it seems strange that you haven't shared, or seemed to want to pursue the sort of public exposure Ryk has. Is that intentional? Ryk did win Olympic medals, though none of them individual - did you never think of going on that sports-celebrity path? Endorsements based on looks? Because it's tough making money in sport in South Africa, especially triathlon, and you seem to maintain quite a low profile. Is this because you're training so much that you're not really finding time [or wanting] to market yourself?

“Hey, I think Ryk had the right contacts at the right time and I'm sure he's made a lot of money from it. It does take a lot of your time away from actual training and racing though. Luckily, I have fantastic sponsors that support me, like TRI SPORTS, GU, PUMA,CERVELO, MODUCARE and ACTION CYCLES. They have enabled me to get to where I am today. If it wasn't for their support, I probably would have been forced to retire a long time ago.

Is triathlon - as a career - getting any easier?

“No, as mentioned above, if it wasn’t for outside sponsors, it would be impossible to make a living as a professional Ironman triathlete. Federations are making it harder to earn prize money, and prize money has even dropped in some events.”

You're 36 now, Dave Scott was 40 when he came 2nd in Hawaii's World Champs, and 5th as a 42 year old. Is Raynard thinking of retiring?

"I’m only 36, so NO - No thoughts about retiring yet. I think I’m in the best shape of my life right now, and I know I can still improve even more.”