Donovan van Gelder

Izimvo is honoured to introduce the Cybercoach, Donvan van Gelder.

Donovan has been competing in swimming, cycling, running and multisport events since 1996.

His illustrious career includes highlights such as 2003 SA Duathlon and Powerman Champion, 2001 Half Ironman winner and 1998 SA Olympic squad member for Triathlon. Donovan has over 200 individual race victories to his name.

Today, Donovan is known as the CyberCoach. With clients from every discipline, age and fitness level, Donovan’s results as a coach include SA Triathlon Elite Woman Champion , SA Triathlon Junior Champion and SA U16 Road Race Cycling Champion.

Website: http://cybercoach.co.za/
Email Address: cybercoach@mweb.co.za

Donovan was kind enough to answer the following questions for us.

Personal

Q: The all important personal profile. How would a close friend introduce you at a social event? i.e. Name, age, company, interesting fact etc.

A: Donovan van Gelder, 38 and I am CyberCoach. I am introverted extrovert. Hard to get to know but once you do, it is hard to shut me up.

Q: Tell us something that not many others know about you. This could be anything from a phobia to your favorite movie.

A: I do everything left before right. Things like putting on shoes etc. I wouldn’t say I am superstitious but I started doing this back in my soccer playing days as a pre-match ritual and it has just become a habit.

Q: What do you enjoy doing when you want to get away from it all?

A: Reading.

Q: What are the most rewarding aspects of being a personal coach?

A: The satisfaction that one achieves in achieving a goal is multiplied because I get to travel the journey with every client.

Professional Sport in South Africa

Q: Do you feel that there is enough governmental support for professional athletes from sports other than soccer, cricket and rugby?

A: I think that professional athletes should be taking care of themselves as much as possible with sponsorship etc. They are ‘professional’ after all but I also understand that sponsorship money will go where the media is and the spectator value of the big team sports will obviously grab the lion’s share.

I think the government support should rather be focused on reducing the barriers to entry of all sports for youngsters so that we can unearth potential World class athletes who might never have been able to realise their potential. Once they have achieved and are marketable, it should then be up to them to make a sustainable living from the sport.

Q: Your professional career highlights include 2003 SA Duathlon and Powerman champion, 2001 Half Iron Man Champion and being part of the 1998 triathlon Olympic squad. Which of your performances are you most proud of and why?

A: I am more proud of the fact that I have been competing for 24 years and still enjoy the training and am still excited by racing. I am most proud of the fact that I am able to compete across a number of different disciplines and can generally hold my own against specialists.

If I was forced to single out an event I would narrow it down to the two you mentioned. The Powerman because I worked hard in training for that and I felt in command of the race tactically from start to finish. SA Duathlon champs which was about 5 weeks later was more of a surprise because that win went against the form book and I surprised myself and my competitors.

The one thing I must add though is that every win is special. It is a feeling that you never get bored with.

Q: In your experience, to what extent does natural talent count towards becoming a professional athlete?

A: You obviously have to be genetically predisposed to the activity but I believe that hard work and mental strength will beat extreme talent more times than not. When all that comes together though we see the big dominators like Usain Bolt.

Q: What does the typical day of a professional athlete entail?

A: Well, that would obviously depend on the time of the year and what sport but a professional athlete’s days are pretty simple and monotonous: train, eat and rest. The less distraction in an athlete’s life the better they will be able to train and assimilate the training.

Life in South Africa

Q: Have you or any of your immediate family been affected by crime? If yes, has it changed your perception of the country and the way you and your family live your lives?

A: Not that I can recall.

Q: Have you ever considered emigration? If yes, where do you think you would emigrate to?

A: I toyed with the idea of relocating to the Netherlands but that was for sporting reasons. My family has origins in Holland and I am very comfortable with the language and the culture etc.

It is always funny to me how being away from something always makes us realise how much we like it.

I am proud of my Dutch heritage but I will always be a proud South African. We have so much here that it would take something extreme for me to want to leave permanently.

I am quite militant about people who have left and then feel they still have the right to comment on things from afar. Maybe they are trying to convince themselves that they have made the correct decision? My feeling is, if they left with no intention of returning then they have also given up the right to pass judgement. Things will only be fixed from this side of the ocean.

Oh, and they should also stop supporting our winning sports teams. If you have adopted a new country, you should also support their losing teams! :)

Q: If you were South African president for just one day, what would you change?

A: Probably fire all the politicians. I remember a quote, not sure who said it, “The desire to be a politician should automatically exclude one from entering politics.”

Look at Nelson Mandela, he was no politician but probably the best leader of a country the World has seen.

Seriously though I would blow the budget on education. Educate the youth and they will grow into adults who will generally make well thought out decisions.

Q: To which three attractions would you first take an international visitor?

A: There is so much! We have so many attractions that we take them for granted. It will help to take a foreigner to as much as possible in order to get a glimpse of our spectacular country through their eyes.

Life in Durban

Q: As a sportsman, what are the benefits of living in Durban?

A: The weather. Winter has probably the most perfect training weather of anywhere that I have been. Cool, not cold. No wind and no rain.

Q: Which restaurant in or around Durban is your favorite for carbo-loading?

A: I am not much of a diner. I eat for fuel mostly. I enjoy places like Stokers up in Kloof more for the atmosphere than the food.

General

Q: What are you going to buy yourself as a 40th birthday present?

A: Eish! Probably a trip to World Triathlon Champs. When I started triathlon you were a veteran when you were 40. Not like nowadays with the differentiation between ‘elites’ and ‘age-groups’. I have difficulty in thinking of myself as a vet in cycling where the category is 30+. So when I am 40 I will officially consider myself worthy of racing in the age groups and will therefore be keen to try my hand at the World Champs, which I believe are in Beijing in 2011.

Q: Favorite South African sporting moment of the last 10 years?

A: 4X100 freestyle Olympic Gold.

Q: Would you like to see multisports such as the triathlon or duathlon introduced at schools?

A: I would like to see sport in general emphasised more at schools. I prefer that kids don’t specialise too early but I do think playing sport teaches important lessons. Some of the most important being how to deal with losing and winning and that there is virtue in hard work and self-discipline.

Q: If you had to pick one South African as a mentor, who would it be and why?

A: I have never been very good in taking instruction so I don’t think that a mentor would do me much good but one of the South Africans that I admire most is Nelson Mandela for his grace.

Q: Who would you most like to read about on Izimvo?

A: I am fascinated by people. So the more variety you have the better.

We would like to sincerely thank Donovan for taking the time to answer our questions and wish him every success both as an athlete and a coach.