Olympian meets up with former coach
After 11 years, she decided to call in Swart again to be her coach. The two former team mates started training the next week after the championships.
IN 2003 Candice Neethling (10) was identified as a world class athlete by her Physical Education and Sports coach, Juan Swart. Swart started coaching Neethling straight away.
Neethling delivered great results at Provincial level, winning the KZN Biathlon Championships at u.11 level, and also dominating most events at the KZN club Athletics Championships. In 2003 she also came third at the South African Biathlon Championships. For the next few years she bagged many gold medals at KZN Championships in athletics and biathlon. She also represented KZN at the South African Swimming Championships as well as at the South African Hockey Championships.
In 2006, Candice represented South Africa at the World Biathlon Championships and received a fourth place. Neethling and coach Juan Swart parted ways as Candice moved to Pietermaritzburg to start her secondary schooling.
Neethling fell in love with mountain biking and her new passion took preference. In 2009, she represented South Africa at the World Junior Mountain Biking Championships and walked away with the bronze medal. After her matric year, she became a professional mountain biker and started racing all over the year. She was crowned as African Champion for three years and ended in the top five at many World Cup competitions. She also visited the podium on many occasions at the South African Championships.
In 2012, Candice was selected to represent South Africa at the Olympic Games. It was a great experience for her and she had to compete against the elite women in the world.
In July 2014, she competed at the South African Mountain Biking Championships at Thaba trails in the South. Neethling decided to race in the Elite Women section although she is actually in the u.23 category. Candice came third at this event, finishing a few minutes behind Mariska Steenkamp, who represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month. Juan Swart, her former coach, decided to go and watch Candice at the SA Champs.
After 11 years, she decided to call in Swart again to be her coach. The two former team mates started training the next week after the championships. Candice, however, only packed clothes for the weekend, but ended up staying for six weeks in Alberton to prepare for the 2014 World Mountain Biking Championships in Norway. Most of the training took place at the Alberton Sports and Fitness Club and Thaba trails.
Candice raced on Friday September 5 at 13:00 in Norway and everyone held thumbs for a good result. “Thank you Joburg for the great training facilities.”
