Meiring’s passion is to unlock young swimmer’s full potential

“The luckiest man in the world to be doing a job I love”, is how Rocco Meiring swimming coach at UP-Tuks describes himself.

His passion is undoubtedly beneficial to South African swimming. It could be argued that Meiring who coaches Commonwealth Games champion, Tatjana Schoenmaker, is instrumental in putting back the self-believe in South African women’s swimming.

Not that Meiring who received the award as UP-Tuks’s best coach in individual sports will ever admit to it. He is far too modest. If pushed he will argue that he is just one of many South African coaches putting in the long hours and lots of research to get the women’s swimmers to perform to the best of their ability at an international level.

But the results speak for itself. Last year in Taipei Schoenmaker (UP-Tuks sportswomen of the year) became the first South African female swimmer to medal at the World Student Games when she won a silver medal in the 200m-breaststroke.

At the time Graham Hill (Chad le Clos’s former coach) also weighed in with a message of congratulations to the UP-Tuks swimmer.

“Female swimmers in South Africa will now start to believe.”

Well, Schoenmaker indeed grew in confidence. Her performances during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are proving. She won the 100m and 200m breaststroke in record times as well as setting a new Africa-record in the 50m-breaststroke.

Her performances did not go unnoticed. Christin Mundell who represented South Africa at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires admits that to get to train with Schoenmaker makes a big difference.

“What Tatjana has done for women's swimming in South Africa is invaluable.  She is an amazing role model.  When we're training, Tatjana is just another person in our squad, so I think what I've learned most from her is that you can be super successful and also stay humble about it.”

Meiring is quick to let all the praise go to Schoenmaker. Saying his only role in her success was to ‘unlock’ her full potential.

“If I got, to be honest, I got to admit not really rating myself as a coach. My best quality as a coach is to identify young talented swimmers and get them to believe in their abilities. People don’t realise how difficult it can be to find ways to get the swimmers you coach to keep on improving. I am on a constant quest to find new information. The better Tatjana, the bigger my challenge becomes.” 

The Saturday morning after receiving the UP-Tuks Laura Postma, a former Springbok swimmer pops into his office at the Tuks pool to give him a paper with some coaching tips she thinks he might find useful. Meiring is really appreciative saying he sure there will be something he can use.

He is also in regular contact the renowned Australian coach Scott Volkers, who has previously coached the likes of former world record holders Susie O'Neill, an eight-time Olympic medalist, and Samantha Riley, a multiple world breaststroke champion.

Rugby is Meiring’s other big passion. At school, he represented the Blue Bulls at the high school and primary school’s Craven Weeks playing hooker. He went on to coach the Tuks under-19 team to win the Lucas Strachan Shield, but that was before 1995. At the time there was no money to be made from coaching rugby that is why he became a swimming coach.

Meiring was for nine years Swim South Africa’s national coaching director and coached for two years in Canada.