Police reservist and latest Olympic winner, Sizwe Ndlovu has hit his target in more than just one way.
|||KwaZulu-Natal - If ever one needed proof of what can be accomplished through hard work and determination, look no further than Sizwe Lawrence Ndlovu, friends and colleagues of the former Newcastle man – and latest Olympic winner – said.
Juggling the demands of being a police reservist, student and athlete, Ndlovu, 29, has struck gold in London, together with team-mates Matthew Brittain, John Smith and James Thompson.
The South African rowing team’s medal adds to gold secured earlier in the week by swimmers Cameron van der Burgh, of Gauteng and Chad le Clos, of Durban.
But those close to Ndlovu, who lived in Madadeni before moving to Gauteng, were not surprised at his victory.
His colleague and partner at the Saps Gauteng Rapid Response Unit, Bianca Bell, also a reservist, described Ndlovu, who is single, as “amazing and down-to-earth”.
“He was just unrivalled in terms of his dedication. He would finish a 12-hour shift, then go to a training session at Roodeplaat Dam (near Pretoria),” she said.
In the weeks before the start of the Olympics, Ndlovu was training more and more, so was often away from work, Bell added.
They have been partners at the SAPS unit for the past four years.
Ndlovu, whose team’s success on the world’s greatest sporting stage is sure to make him South Africa’s most eligible bachelor, had also been studying sports science at the University of Pretoria, she said, and yet he still managed to fit in gym and physical training.
“To be honest, I don’t know when he slept,” Bell said, laughing.
Bell and her colleagues were very excited about the win.
“It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person – he always gives 110 percent.”
The university’s aquatic manager, Steven Ball, said he was so proud of the team.
“With the amount of work that this team puts in, they definitely worked hard for it,” he said. Ball said top athletes in the sport often trained 20-24 hours a week. “They spend hours on boats, cycling, running and in the gym,” he said.
He said that Ndlovu was hardworking and was always respectful towards his team-mates.
A former member of his high school rowing team, Nadine Anderson, said that she remembered Ndlovu as a quiet person, who trained more than anyone else, and who had a great sense of humour.
“We matriculated together in 1999 from Mondeor High School and still kept in touch after we had left school,” she said.
They had competed together in international events, she said.
Anderson, head of rowing at St Benedicts College in Gauteng, said that they often saw each other at Roodeplaat Dam where they both trained.
“Another person who was instrumental in helping Lawrence achieve this dream was our school principal, Tom Price,” she said, adding that Price, who died six years ago, helped with fund-raising and encouragement. - Daily News
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