Koos van der Merwe, one of the legends of South African athletics, sadly passed away at the beginning of this month. He was 65. 

He will be remembered as someone who lived life to its fullest until he was diagnosed with dementia.

"Koos had no 'brakes'. It did not matter what he did. He always gave 100%," said his brother, Riaan van der Merwe. 

This quest to continually push the boundaries led to one of the most memorable moments in South African athletics. In the late seventies, early eighties, van der Merwe and Herman Potgieter had quite a rivalry going in the javelin throwing. Potgieter was the South African record holder with a distance of 88.62 metres. The race was on to see who would be the first athlete from Africa to pass 90 metres.

On 5 February 1983 at Middelburg Hoërskool turned out to be the day it happened. Van der Merwe let rip with a massive throw of 91.24 metres. Danie Cornelius (TuksAthletics Head of Programme) witnessed it. 

"Koos was never a braggart. But that afternoon, in his unassuming way, he dropped hints about throwing 90 metres. I think it was with his third or fourth throw. I remember seeing the javelin sailing through the air. To me, it felt like it was never going to come down. When it did, it landed on the other side of the high jump mats. It was massive." 
 
It was one of the six best distances in the world in 1983. On the World Athletics all-time list, it is still ranked as one of the 15th best distances ever. 

Riaan van der Merwe remembers his brother throwing even further at Hoërskool Menlopark. 

"Koos threw the javelin right across the athletics field. It landed amongst some refuge bags outside the track. The officials refused to measure it, arguing that it was not legal. The javelin needed to land on the field for it to be considered for record purposes." 

It was a golden era for men's javelin throwing. The same year, van der Merwe threw 91.24 metres, Tom Petranoff (USA) set a world record, throwing 99.72 metres. A year later, Uwe Hohn (Germany) threw 104.80m. 

There was a real fear that spectators might get killed. It led to the decision to change the javelin to curtail the distances.

Van der Merwe later pursued a career in athletics being based in West Germany. He was in contention to compete at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. In the end, a severe back injury put an end to his dream. 

But he was not finished with athletics. Van der Merwe started coaching. Quite a few of his athletes went on to win South African titles.  The likes of Soezin Lion-Cachet (former SA women's record-holder), Chris de Beer (87.94m) and Terseus Liebenberg (SA's foremost javelin coach) were some of the athletes he guided.

Van der Merwe was also a good rugby player. He played for the Blue Bulls Under-25 team. A definite highlight was playing for Bulls XV against the USA Cougars in 1978 at Loftus. The likes of Wynand Claasen, a former Springbok captain, also played that day. 

According to Claasen, van der Merwe had all the qualities to be a good winger.

"Koos was as strong as an 'ox'. He would flatten opponents when he had the ball in hand."

One of Claasen's favourite stories was in 1979 when Van der Merwe was still playing for Tuks. 

"The day we had our team photo taken, Koos did not show. Afterwards, he told us he arrived, but he fell asleep in his car in the parking lot." 

Another favourite story is how Koos van der Merwe "borrowed" a small wine barrel from Dr Danie Craven's desk after Tuks had beaten Maties in Stellenbosch.

Van der Merwe was equally dynamic in his professional career. He started out as a teacher, later on, qualified as a Doctor (Orthopedist and Anaesthetist). He was also a successful cattle farmer.