Many may consider Henri Schoeman to have come out of the blue to claim podium places at the Rio Olympic Games and the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, but it was a long time in the making.
Long-time swimming coach Alistair Hatfield believes the Durban-based triathlete’s recent successes were the result of years of dedication and a tribute to Schoeman’s tenacious character.
While many talked up the chances of the equally gritty Richard Murray, Schoeman’s name was merely mentioned in passing.Earning three top-10 finishes at international triathlons before the Olympic Games was perhaps the best indication of Schoeman’s potential.“He’s been going for 2½ to 3 years without resting or tapering for any events so the aim was just to get to the big one?,” Hatfield said.
“A lot of people don’t see that, they see him eighth, ninth, 10th, and question how he suddenly gets to third, but he was training hard each time he went into those races. That is not easy but he did.”
Hatfield, who also trained Schoeman’s brother, two-time Olympic swimmer Riaan, recalls the tough character of the siblings since they first started swimming with him many years ago.“To have two brothers with such tenacity is just incredible. They’re as tough as each other in training.
“I mean they would kill each other in training. Kill themselves literally.
“Very few athletes can do that particularly when the work is really tough and they would just soak it up.”
Schoeman’s tenacity came to the fore at both the Rio Olympic Games and the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Mexico.
At the Rio Games he became South Africa’s first triathlon medallist, finishing third behind the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonathan, respectively.
Last week in Mexico he turned the tables on the brothers earning his first WTS victory. The race was almost a carbon copy of the Olympic final where Schoeman stuck to the Brownlees finishing in third place.
The triathlon season came to a climactic end when Jonathan, racing for the series title, broke down from exhaustion after leading with a kilometre to go.
Jonathan paced his race incorrectly in searing heat on the Mexican island, breaking down from exhaustion with 700 metres to go.
At that point, his brother came to his rescue locking arms as they took each step together before Alistair pushed Jonny over the line with Murray gaining on them.
The moment captured the beauty of sport and will be remembered as one the great examples of sportsmanship. While social media was abuzz over Alistair’s gesture of brotherly love, the trolls came out to play, lambasting Schoeman for the way he celebrated his maiden WTS victory.
A few metres after passing Jonny, Schoeman looked back as he entered the blue-carpeted finish before pumping his fist in celebration.
“After the bike it definitely felt like déjà vu, coming off the bike, and running with Jonny I looked back and Alistair was a little bit back but then he managed to catch up with us,” Schoeman said.
“We were running fairly conservatively. It was really warm out there, and you had to try to save as much as you could because it got really hot in the last two kilometres.
“I was confident sitting where I was. I knew if something happened I would have a little kick but Jonny gave his kick and he was really strong.
”In both races Schoeman stuck with the Brownlees, dominant forces in international triathlon.Schoeman started out as a swimmer with Olympic aspirations but when he stagnated in the pool and stopped growing he pursued his goal of reaching the Games in the swim, bike, run event.
“I remember ‘wit koppe’ (white-haired) guys walking to the pool. Both were tiny and everybody looked at them and said ‘hey, you’re not going to swim’ but they got stuck in,” Hatfield said.
“They have incredible discipline. They trained unbelievably hard.”
Two weeks before the Rio Games, Schoeman had a chest infection and high fever.
In Mexico, he paced his race perfectly although he copped some flak on social media for the way he celebrated his maiden victory.
“The victory means so much to me. It shows I can come off an Olympic medal and still do great things,” he said. “It’s a massive breakthrough?. I’m really happy with that. It’s unfortunate the way Jonny collapsed towards the end and Alistair helping him out.
“I wish I could have done something but I can’t sacrifice my own race. He is not my brother and I am gutted for him.
He was probably the strongest on the day and would have been a deserving winner.”
– The Sunday Independent