van der MERWE Hendrik

Date of Birth: 10 May 1990

Age: 31

Gender: Male

Sport Class: SB5

Place of birth: PRETORIA

Birth Country:

South Africa

Place of residence : CENTURION

Residence Country:

South Africa

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Swimming	Men's 100m Breaststroke - SB5

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 100m Breaststroke - SB5 Heat 2	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
World Championships
7	100m Breaststroke - SB5	2013	Montreal, QC, CAN	1:45.02
8	100m Breaststroke - SB5	2019	London, GBR	1:42.21
8	100m Breaststroke - SB5	2006	Durban, RSA	1:52.52
9	4x100m Medley Relay - 34 Points	2015	Glasgow, GBR	4:52.15
12	100m Breaststroke - SB5	2015	Glasgow, GBR	1:49.11
13	400m Freestyle - S6	2006	Durban, RSA	6:26.11
16	100m Freestyle - S6	2006	Durban, RSA	1:28.17
16	50m Butterfly - S6	2006	Durban, RSA	46.64
17	50m Freestyle - S6	2006	Durban, RSA	38.62
Commonwealth Games
7	100m Breaststroke - SB8	2018	Gold Coast, QLD, AUS	1:26.11

Legs [he was given the name by his teamates while competing at the National Schools Championships in Durban, South Africa]. (heslopsports.co.za, 27 Mar 2015)

Working out. (Coach Legs Youtube channel, 30 May 2020)

Occupation:

Athlete, Business Owner, Coach, Motivational Speaker

Languages spoken:

Afrikaans, English, North Sotho

2006 for South Africa (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

He began swimming at school in 2004. (Athlete, 12 Jul 2015)

He started swimming to get out of staying in his hostel at boarding school in Johannesburg, South Africa. "I always messed around in the dam as a kid. The hostel that I was in was very bad. We used to get into fights the whole time. So, I started swimming in the afternoon so I could get out of the hostel. Then I just started picking up like that and it all sort of had a snowball effect. This sport brings so much more than just fitness and good physique. The mental part of it was what intrigues me the most." (The F Word Finance YouTube channel, 06 Oct 2017; Athlete, 12 Jul 2015; Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (Coach Legs Youtube channel, 30 May 2020)

His training consists of eight to nine sessions a week, including four-kilometre swim sessions and weight training, as well as sauna sessions six days a week. (Facebook page, 04 Dec 2020)

Breaking several South African swimming records as a teenager and competing in a test event in Brazil prior to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Coach Legs Youtube channel, 30 May 2020)

US swimmer Michael Phelps. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Philosophy:

"If you stop to throw rocks at every dog that barks at you, then you will never reach your destination." (heslopsports.co.za, 17 Feb 2016)

General Interest

Classification
S6, SB5, SM6 (IPC, 07 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Impaired muscle power, Spinal Cord Injuries (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Impairment Details
He was born with spina bifida. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

General
RETIREMENT AND COMEBACK
In 2016 he decided to retire from professional swimming to focus on coaching. "I started coaching in 2013. I did coaching and swimming. It was kind of hard to balance but that was why I retired [from swimming in 2016] because I needed to make a living as well." He returned to the pool at the 2019 National Championships in Durban, South Africa, and went on to compete at the 2019 World Series in Glasgow, Scotland. (paralympic.org, 15 Apr 2019; sport24.co.za, 13 Apr 2019; mh.co.za, 25 Oct 2018; The F Word Finance YouTube channel, 06 Oct 2017)

FITNESS ENTHUSIAST
He says that fitness has been his lifestyle since age 14. He runs an online fitness and wellbeing franchise, Coach Legs, designs a workout app for smartphones, and is a motivational speaker. "I'm in love with fitness. As a swimming coach, I have to make sure what I want the swimmers to do after represents that as well. I can't be a coach and live an unhealthy lifestyle. Mind, body and nutrition I believe are the three main pillars for living a happy lifestyle." (Facebook page, 04 Nov 2019; FitChef YouTube channel, 22 Aug 2018)

OCCUPATION
He works as a coach at various primary and high schools in South Africa, and is a club coach at the University of Pretoria. He holds multiple qualifications from the American Swimming Coaches Association. (iol.co.za, 22 Jan 2020; northglennews.co.za, 22 Feb 2019; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2021; up.ac.za, 01 Jan 2020)

BOOK
In October 2019 he launched his first book 'Fifteen Life Contributions'. "It's a quick read, telling the story of my journey in my swimming career as well as life and the lessons I have learned along the way." (Facebook page, 08 Oct 2019)

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/hendrik.v.merwe.3
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CoachLegsofficial
https://instagram.com/coachlegsofficial
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-marthinus-van-der-merwe-59b3a4163/
https://twitter.com/legs2323
Twitter Profile 2: https://twitter.com/thecoachlegs
https://www.youtube.com/user/Legs2324

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos