A challenging competition culminated in a bronze medal for Port Elizabeth beach sprint star Mandi Maritz as she claimed third place in the Interclub world championships in Australia at the weekend.
Maritz, who claimed a silver medal for Team South Africa in the same event a fortnight ago, was a shadow of her usual best.
The championships saw the cream of the world’s surf lifesaving crop descend on Adelaide to find the best of the best.
The competition was split into two weeks, with the first week dedicated to the some of the biggest nations in the sport going head to head.
Week two saw the Interclub World Championships take place with the world’s top clubs fighting it out for supremacy.
Speaking about her interclub sprint event, Maritz said: “I was feeling very strong for the sprints and came very close to the first girl who won [in the nations event].
“For interclubs I tried to focus on my weaknesses, but racing for two weeks got the better of me.
“My body was very sore and I was tired.
“If I had put my chest out I would have won, it was so close, but I am very happy with my 2nd place and then 3rd in interclubs,” she said.
Looking to find her form in the flags event, it was a Sunday to forget for the Durban Surf Lifesaving athlete and extinguished all hopes of claiming the gold she so desperately craved.
Finishing fourth in the event during the nations competition, Maritz was full of optimism heading into the interclub flags event.
But it was not to be and she made an early exit.
“I lost focus in the flags event. My mind was all over the place and I injured my big toe during warm-up and then my groin during the heats for interclubs,” she said.
Asked how she felt now that the competition was over, Maritz said: “My body is broken. There were times where I had to focus really hard to keep my mind strong too, but it was really tough.
“Luckily there were chiropractors who helped put my body back in place.
“If it wasn’t for them I would not have been able to run due to the heavy strain on my hip flexors from racing in the sand, injuring my toe and a bruised bone at the bottom of my foot as a result of too much impact on it.”
Maritz will now take some well-deserved time away from the sand as she gives her body some time off.