Nerves of steel help judoka on Olympic path
This was her second call-up to the national squad.
A Toti judoka has her sights set on competing at the Olympics after she finished third in her age and weight group at the Commonwealth Games in Port Elizabeth last month.
Jeandre Brand (17), a grade 11 pupil at Port Natal School, was also selected to the SA judo team.
“I was hoping for a top result, as I trained hard for the tournament,” said Jeandre, who trains for up to two hours, three times a week with coach, Johan Duckworth.
“I have been coaching Jeandre for two years,” said Johan. “I was not at all surprised with her bronze medal result at the Commonwealth Games as we had been preparing since November and she was in great form for the event.
Jeandre has already won her category at the national trials in February this year and she certainly has the potential to make it to the Olympics. However, it will take a lot of hard work and long hours of training and preparation, not to mention a lot of travelling to international tournaments and training camps. Jeandre is focused and works hard at training and she can only grow from strength to strength.”
Jeandre was born in Johannesburg and moved to Durban in 2012, before settling in Toti with her family a year later. She started judo 10 years ago, following in her older brother JP’s footsteps. She is currently a brown belt.
She made the KZN judo team in 2012 and every year since. This was her second call-up to the national squad. “It felt amazing to be selected for the SA team again,” she said. “Last year I competed in my first international tournament at the Africa champs in Egypt in July.
I still get nervous ahead of a tournament, but nerves are good and it keeps me focused.”
Jeandre now has her sights on either competing at the Africa champs in Morrocco from 20 to 25 July or attending a training camp in Boston, USA from 7 to 22 July and competing in the US open in Florida from 22 to 24 July.
