Meet Daisy van Vuuren – shy cop by day, international bodybuilder at night

Daisy van Vuuren, a 51-year-old lieutenant-colonel mounted unit commander in the South African Police Service (Saps) in Pretoria, is determined to raise South Africa’s flag high.

The once-shy cop will put on her bright yellow bikini in May to compete at an International Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (IBFF) event in Italy.

After joining the police college in 1990, Van Vuuren recently celebrated 33 years with Saps, of which she has spent 22 years in the mounted unit. Van Vuuren stopped horseback riding after losing her horse, Alex, a few years ago.

“My love for horseback riding stopped the day he died. I had him for 10 years but when he died, I didn’t have the will to train a new horse,” she said.

Van Vuuren’s weightloss challenge

Van Vuuren instead directed her focus on fitness.

“I have always been an aerobics fanatic. Eight years ago, at the age of 47, I started to crossfit. I had done crossfit for two years when my trainer told me I could end up on stage. I didn’t believe him,” she said.

Van Vuuren said her journey started during a winter weightloss challenge at the gym.

“I followed the eating plan and all the muscles popped out in places I never knew there were muscles. Everybody started asking me if I was competing in bodybuilding,” she said.

After finding a trainer who gave her an eating and training plan, Van Vuuren joined the IBFF affiliated with the police.

“I competed in my first competition seven years ago and it was a big disaster,” she said.

Van Vuuren said it was challenging to join the posing classes where she was among young girls, all resembling models.

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“I have the body but didn’t have the confidence. I had the body but I struggled to flaunt it. It was terrible.

“I don’t know how I pushed through it, but it made me a new person and gave me confidence. I started believing in myself,” she said.

Bodybuilding expensive

The judge at her first show told her to smile next time. Van Vuuren said bodybuilding was an expensive hobby on a police salary.

A basic entry-level bikini with minimum bling is priced at anything from R1 000 up. The more bling, the more expensive. A full-bling bikini can cost as much as R5 000.

“You don’t always need a new bikini but – you know ladies – they always want a new bikini.” Van Vuuren said she liked earthy tones but was pushed to try a bright yellow bikini.

“I was unsure at first, but it was a hit. It was the best bikini yet. I’m taking it with me in May – with some more bling,” she said.

Now Van Vuuren owns more than 20 different coloured bikinis.

“I have many in blue, but the yellow will always be my favourite,” she said.

Van Vuuren has started selling some of the bikinis to raise funds to participate in the fitness model and more than 35 divisions of the competition. She said she wasn’t intimidated by young models any more.

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“They might be 18, 21 or 35 years old, but I know what I look like at the age of 51. That 35-year-old must still find out what she will look like at my age,” she said.

‘I don’t mind them’

Van Vuuren said her family, including her 20-year-old son, were not fond of the sport.

“They say there are many buttocks and breasts exposed and too few clothes,” she laughed, but she holds her head high.

“I don’t mind them, because it’s an approved police sport. I get Wednesday afternoons off to go train,” she said.

VIDEO: Meet fitness model cop, Daisy van Vuuren

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Van Vuuren admitted she couldn’t resist her ultimate cheat meal: pap, sous and wors.

“It is not just that hour in the gym, but the other 23. The secret is consistency,” she said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za