Knysna's internationally competitive athlete and Ironman, Steven Shirley, has just received the coveted Triathlete of the Year Award from the Eastern Cape Triathlon Association.

Iron Man: Steven Shirley is the Eastern Cape Triathlon Association’s Triathlete of the Year.

Shirley is currently one of the top athletes in the world in the incredibly tough discipline of Olympic and Ironman distance triathlons. He has had phenomenal results this year, finishing first in his age category at the SA Ironman held in April in Port Elizabeth.

He was placed 20th overall out of more than 1300 international and local athletes at this event.

He also qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii and was the Eastern Province Triathlon category champion for the Olympic distance event. He also placed second in the Olympic distance at the SA Triathlon Championships and qualified for the SA triathlon team to go to the World Championships in Australia.

He has been described by Nikohla Taylor of the Eastern Cape Triathlon Association as “incredibly dedicated and passionate about his training”, spending many hours swimming, cycling and running to maintain his excellent condition.

Shirley told The Herald yesterday: “I think it’s something that not everyone can do and to be good at it is a unique talent. I do it to correspondent with my business as a trainer and the bottom line is, I like to do it because not many other people can.”

Towards peak training season, which is about six weeks before a competition, Shirley swims about 18km, cycles 400-500km and runs up to 75km a week.

Despite his success, he has had to finance the costs associated with racing and training at the level necessary for him to remain internationally competitive.

“It is a huge expense to travel. Many of the events are overseas and just to enter Ironman costs R4000.

Equipment costs are heavy too – my bike is R70000 – and of course I’m not working at these times. Fortunately I’m in the industry so the more I race, the more I promote who I am.”

Shirley’s commitment to the sport and the experience he has gained at the top of his game have resulted in his becoming arguably one of the finest coaches in the country, according to Zandile Meneses, who is preparing with him for next year’s half Ironman.

Shirley, who is in the process of setting up a fitness studio which opens in Knysna in January, said that with the Garden Route’s increased focus on sport tourism, there was a growing need for triathlon training.

By Neil Oelofse

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