The realisation that what worked today is not going to be good enough for tomorrow is the reason why Tuks has so far won three of the four Varsity Tournaments, and their athletes and swimmers had set new barriers.
It was said after Tuks won seven Varsity Tournaments last year and had two world champions in Olympic sporting codes that it will be a tough feat to improve on. But then again tough is what gets the Tuks athletes and coaches going. If ever there is a challenge it is guaranteed they will go for it.
Last night Tuks won the men’s Varsity Hockey Tournament by beating Maties 5-0 in Stellenbosch. Tuks is also the Varsity cricket and athletics champions.
Other definite highlights were Tatjana Schoenmaker winning two gold medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and setting three Africa records in the breaststroke events.
Akani Simbine became the first South African sprinter to win a gold medal in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games.
Clarence Munyai set the international athletics community alight during the South African Senior Championships when he ran a time of 19.69s in the 200m. It puts him 10th on the IAAF all-time list.
During the Diamond League Meeting in Doha, Carina Horn became the first South African female sprinter to dip under 11 seconds in the 100m when she ran a time of 10.98s.
The common denominator in all of this success stories is marginal gains.
After last night’s Varsity hockey success Peabo Lembethe (captain) said: “Nothing was left to chance. We started working harder during training, focus on getting stronger and fitter in the gym. More importantly over the last two years, Guy Elliott our coach kept on reminding us that if we take care of the small stuff, the bigger picture will take care of itself.”
After Assupol Tuks lost last year’s Varsity Cricket Tournament Kruger van Wyk was on a constant quest to ensure that his players are at their best during vital games.
And he succeeded in doing so. Since then Tuks has not lost a major tournament. This year they have already won the Varsity as well as the Momentum National Club Championships.
“It does not matter whether we bat or bowl we always go for the maximum wanting to score as many runs as possible or get the wickets tumbling,” explained Van Wyk (head coach).
The exciting thing about the Assupol Tuks Program is how the coaches can make sure that the players go on to compete at the highest level.
For the first time since 1970, the Proteas managed to beat the Australians in local test series. It is interesting to note that no less than six former Tuks players - Faf du Plessis (captain), AB de Villiers, Morné Morkel, Theunis de Bruyn, Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi – contributed to the success. It proves that it is the club where good players become great players.
Horn’s breakthrough is no surprise. For the last few years, she has undoubtedly been one of the most dedicated athletes often spending up to eight hours at the Tuks track. She credits her success to her and her coach, Rayner Schopf, planning the perfect 100m race metre by metre.
Werner Prinsloo who coaches Simbine said the moment he realised how talented Simbine is he set himself the challenge as a coach to always stay one step ahead of him.
Schoenmaker broke the South African “jinx” when she won the 200m-breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games in a new African record time of 2:22:02.
In the past South Africa’s female swimmers fiercely contested the 200m-breaststroke at the Games but on three previous occasions, they had to settle for silver. She also won the 100m-breaststroke in an Africa-record time of 1:06.41.
Rocco Meiring (coach) ascribes Schoenmaker’s success to her having the X-factor.
“That brings a unique challenge. As a coach, it is essential to know when enough is enough as the margin of error is so small.”
When one listens to Meiring talk, it quickly becomes clear that he has mapped out Schoenmaker’s “journey” to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo to the finest detail, leaving absolutely nothing to chance. He has prioritised her studies. If everything goes according to plan, she will get her degree at the end of the next year. Only then he wants her to focus on swimming faster times seriously.
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