Port Elizabeth beach sprint queen Mandi Maritz believes she is in the best shape of her life as she prepares to compete at the Lifesaving World Championships this month.
Maritz is in the final stages of her world championship preparations and will look to dial down her intense training programme as she enters the tapering-off phase.
Speaking about the upcoming championships, Maritz said she was excited to be part of such a prestigious event again and hopes she can go one better and attain the top step of the podium in her respective events.
“The last time I competed in Adelaide [Australia], I achieved a second place for the beach sprints and flags event,” she said.
“It was a wonderful experience but this year I am hoping to better my last results and achieve my best results yet.”
Maritz, a surf lifesaver competing out of the Durban Surf Lifesaving stable, gained selection for the senior women's team after two gold medals in her specialty beach flag and sprint events.
At the same championships, she also achieved gold in the line throw event.
Maritz said these were the events in which she would compete at the championships, in addition to doing some relay and other pool events.
“My body is feeling great, preparations have been good.
“I remember in 2012 when I competed in Australia, I felt I was in my best shape – but this time around I’m feeling much better, possibly the best shape I have ever been in,” she said.
“I think I have put in more preparation for this competition than I have in a long time.
“I’ve also worked a lot on my mental health, because mental strength plays a big role in my competitions and how well I can execute, so I have been doing quite a bit of meditation and visualisations to ensure my head is in the right place,” she said.
Maritz also took her skills to Japan where she competed under the Team SA banner at the Sanyo International Lifesaving World Cup and claimed a double gold in the sprint and flags events.
Maritz, a former member of Summerstrand Surf Lifesaving Club in Port Elizabeth, trains five to six times a week, sometimes twice a day.
She also tries to get in at least two days of rest per week.
During training she does athletic track work to up her speed, and spends time at the beach working on her sprint and flag techniques.
She also goes to gym for some plyometric training to work on “being more explosive”, a lot of which will be done in these final few days before she jets off for Down Under next Wednesday.
On the team’s chances of performing well at the event, Maritz is confident they have the strength to compete and give the so-called bigger nations in the sport a run for their money.
“Having competed at this level previously and coming in second, I know that nations like Australia, where the sport is massive, will bring their A-game, which would mean that we would need to do the same, if not better,” she said.