Triathlete goes the distance
In just two years as a triathlete Bayley-Rose Van de Coolwijk has achieved more than she ever imagined.
The year 13 student at St Mary’s College is still reeling from her performance at the ITU World Triathlon Championships in Mexico last September.
Van de Coolwijk, 17, placed sixth in the 16-19 female sprint category, an outcome which she said was her biggest accomplishment to date.
Mexico was also a source of much excitement for Van de Coolwijk as it was her first trip overseas. In September she will travel to the Netherlands to compete in the same event.
Van de Coolwijk began participating in triathlons after being scouted by coach and previous world triathlon champion Jenny Rose at a school road race two years ago.
She names Rose as one of her key influencers, along with New Zealand triathlete Andrea Hewitt. Both women showed great perseverance, strength and consistency, she said.
Watching Hewitt’s recent narrow win against Jodie Stimpson at the recent ITU World Triathlon Series women’s race in Abu Dhabi was an emotional experience for the young athlete. ‘‘I cried my eyes out.’’ Hewitt dedicated what was her first series victory since 2011 to her fiance and coach Laurent Vidal, who died of a heart attack in 2015.
Van de Coolwijk said she is also motivated by the people she trains with, most of whom are significantly older.
‘‘It makes it a lot more easier and enjoyable when they’re around. They’re really supportive and encouraging.’’
She found it difficult to maintain the same levels of enthusiasm when training alone.
‘‘The hardest part is when nothing is going right and you just want to give up.’’
However, Van de Coolwijk also stressed the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and uses setbacks to her advantage.
‘‘You’re not going to do well if you have a negative mindset. Always take positives from a negative and then keep working on it.’’
The best advice she had received came from elite triathlete Deb Lynch who reminded Van de Coolwijk that one bad race was not going to determine her future, and that one day she would be able to look back and laugh about it.
The skills Van de Coolwijk has learnt from her triathlon training has also helped aspects of her life.
She was now much better at time management and had to be more organised to balance her almost daily training sessions with schoolwork, she said.
She noted that in spite of this, her busy schedule has had an impact on her social life.
‘‘I’m willing to miss out on stuff her in other like that if it means I can perform well.
‘‘All of the opportunities I get, I wouldn’t get them if I wasn’t willing to put in the hard work.’’
After she finishes school this year, Van de Coolwijk plans to continue with her sport by applying for an overseas running scholarship or becoming a swimming counsellor for Camp America.