Beach sprint maiden and current South African champion Mandi Maritz believes the target on her back will serve as extra motivation when she takes to the sand at the 2018 Lifesaving World Championships this month.
Maritz, 28, will represent team SA at the championships set to be held in Adelaide, South Australia, where she will compete in the beach flags and sprint events against some of the best surf sports and rescue athletes from across the globe.
Affectionately known as “#BlitzMaritz”, the Island Way Villa manager has been hard at work for the past few weeks preparing for the championships which get under way from November 16 and conclude in early December.
Since beginning her lifesaving journey as a nipper at the age of 10, the former Summerstrand Surf Lifesaving Club member has gone on to make a name for herself in the sport, picking up a cabinet full of accolades along the way.
Now Maritz is looking to go all the way to the top at the venue where she achieved two second-place finishes in her speciality sprint and flag events in 2012.
Ahead of what can be described as one of the most hotly contested championships in recent times, Maritz said many of the competitors whom she also faced at the Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup in Japan earlier this year would be there.
“I competed against my main competitors in Japan this year and managed to beat them. I think they are all going to all gun for me if they get the chance, mostly from the Aussies and from NZ.”
Having been a surf sport enthusiast since that early age, Maritz has been competing on an international stage for more than a decade, having had her first taste of the world stage in 2007 when she won the beach flags event at the Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup.
Since that first competition, Maritz has gone on to win a number of accolades, including gold at the 2010 world championships in Egypt.
She followed that up with two silvers in Adelaide for her speciality beach flags and sprint events in 2012 and bronze in the same event two years later in France.
In 2016 she competed in the Netherlands, where she again claimed bronze in the beach flags event, and last year claimed silver and bronze medals in her flags and sprint event at the Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup in Japan.
She also won the Lifesaving South Africa President’s award in 2017 for her outstanding achievements in the sport.
About the differences in competing locally as opposed to on the international stage, Maritz said: “To be honest, the international athletes are exposed to much more facilities and coaches than what we here in SA so they are on a different level to us when it comes to training.
“They also have many more local competitions, so they are exposed to racing more and it’s taken more seriously.
They also have way more BMT [big match temperament] to what the ladies are exposed to over here,” she added.
When asked about how her sport translates into her everyday life, she said: “Lifesaving is my passion and it’s part of my every day.
“I also do athletics so the training complements it.
“I know my first aid and the danger of the sea so I can educate others and also always be ready when someone is in danger.”
Maritz said she had met many inspirational athletes in her life, but one that stood out was Australian Simon Harris, with whom she had the privilege of training in 2013 when she was living Down Under.
“Seeing him train and then dominate throughout the years competing in Open when he is in his late 40s is so inspiring.”
Having competed in various locations around the country and across the globe, Maritz said her favourite spots to compete were in the Bay, because she is from here, but also Durban because Main Beach is a nice venue to get the public involved.
She said the most testing local venue was Camps Bay and Clifton, due to the soft sand, which is difficult to compete on.
“Internationally I loved France, Montpellier beach, but also Adelaide because it’s a lot like Port Elizabeth. The sand is not too soft and it’s fair for everyone.”