In a time when South Africa was still banned from the international sporting arena, a small party of local triathletes made their way to Europe to pursue their dreams of making a living from the sport. ‘Trailblazing’ their way across the continent, this closely-knit group eventually produced two world champions, paving the way for several young South African triathletes to find places in French and German clubs.
One of these hardy individuals was a lady by the name of Mandy Dean, whom most SA triathletes of today would probably have never heard of. A native of Port Elizabeth, Dean pursued a professional triathlon career internationally for over five years, before returning to her home shores. A true pioneer of the sport here in South Africa, Mandy is now a swimming coach in her hometown, providing up and coming youngsters with a platform to develop their skills at an elite level.
“I spent my entire youth swimming up and down a black line” recalls Dean of her formative sporting years. “I was more into the social element, however, and moved into surf lifesaving as I got older.”
As with many triathletes, Dean got into the sport by accident, borrowing equipment in order to complete her first event. “I ended up doing really well in my first race here in PE, so I bought a bike and started training more.”
Dean was soon dominating the national triathlon scene across all distances, winning the 1987 Durban Ultra triathlon. The prize for first place was a ticket to the Nice International in France, then one of the sport’s “marquee” events and unofficial world championships. Competitors would tackle a 4km swim in the Mediterranean, followed by a mountainous 120km bike ride and a flat 32km run along the Promenade des Anglais. Accompanied by the legendary Keith Anderson, Mandy recalls her shock at the severity of the course, and of being more than a little nervous of her prospects. “I had never ridden in the mountains before and here we were in the Maritime Alps! Keith was undaunted though, and taught me how to ride the down hills without hesitation.”
Both Dean and Anderson excelled in their first international outing, with Mandy placing an eventual sixth overall, a position that she would repeat on a further two occasions. “I was really happy with my performance that first year, especially with no experience.”
Dean then embarked on a journey to the Big Island of Hawaii for a shot at the sport’s crown jewel; Ironman. “We spent some time in the triathlon hotbed of San Diego immediately prior to Hawaii. After listening in amazement to the training volume of the pro athletes, I was totally psyched out. But the Ironman is an amazing event and I felt sure that I could make it.”
Despite her reservations, Dean exited the swim with six-time Ironman champion Mark Allen, eventually finishing eleventh overall in 10h30min. Satisfied with her result, Dean returned home to South Africa with the intention of being a bona-fide professional triathlete.
This would prove difficult, however, as it was impossible to compete internationally as a South African. “At his stage, Nic van den Berg of Longmile started sponsoring me, which made travelling to races within SA much easier. Springbok colors were the highest accolade that we could achieve and a great honor. But in 1989, I decided to see if I could get into the European professional circuit using my German passport.”
Thus began a ‘whirlwind’ adventure, which would see Dean become a respected competitor in Europe.
After another sixth place finish in Nice that year, Dean was invited to an Olympic distance event in Toulon. This was to be a turning point. “Simon Lessing, Kevin Richards, Mike Myers, Andrew Dean and I somehow fit our bags and bikes into a tiny rental car and arrived there as unknowns. Simon and I both won and were suddenly sought after by French race directors.”
Like a band of gypsies, they travelled from race to race, living on prize money whilst sharing food and cooking skills. Dean recalls many a night where the group would go ‘fruit shopping,’ which entailed stealing fruit whilst using their bicycles as ‘getaway vehicles!’
“We eventually got invited to join a professional club in Salon de Provence, which lies between Avignon and Marseilles. They provided us with an apartment and sponsorship from the local supermarket,” says Dean, who remained with this setup for three years. “There were numerous South African triathletes who would stay with us for short spells. We would stick a huge map of France on the wall and spend hours discussing who would go to which race, and how much prize money was available.”
Both Dean and Lessing were fortunate to possess European passports, which they decided to use in order to fulfill their international ambitions. “I went to Germany as a total unknown for their national championships in 1989. There was a huge surprise in my beating their top women competitors and I was suddenly drafted into the German national team.”
In a true ‘rags to riches’ story, Dean became a fully sponsored professional almost overnight, something for which she is eternally grateful. “The Germans were really good to me. I got a manager and soon received loads of equipment and financial incentives. My German was terrible, but my teammates were kind enough to speak to me in English. They really made me feel at home.”
While Dean represented Germany at three world championships, other factors would be prove difficult in the ensuing years. “We would normally come back to South Africa during the off-season for a break. But in 1990, the European Triathlon Union prohibited Simon Lessing and me from even training here. So we spent three months preparing together in Zimbabwe.”
In an unfortunate twist of fate, Dean received a life-changing telephone call during that period north of the border. “My little sister was killed in a car accident and I took it really badly. I struggled to continue and wanted to quit triathlon. But I had signed contracts in Germany and was obliged to return.”
Having lost her will to compete, Dean soldiered through a difficult, but successful season, focusing on returning to South Africa with enough money to start over. “My heart just was not in it anymore. I became more focused on winning prize money than anything else, which I saved to build my dream house in Sardinia Bay. My last race was in Morocco. After finishing second, I casually threw my running shoes into a dustbin and vowed to never race again.”
Today, Dean’s life is still focused on sports. As an elite swimming coach in Port Elizabeth, Mandy has combined the wisdom gained from her professional career with that dream house to provide training camps for competitive swimmers aspiring to reach the next level. “I’m working with former world record holder, Peter Williams, who owns the Waterborn swimming club in Johannesburg. He brings groups of swimmers to PE for training camps and they stay at my old house in Sardinia Bay. Peter has converted it to accommodate forty people, where the swimmers can eat, sleep, train, get massage and attend lectures.”
“We teach them to how to train hard and stay focused, while still maintaining a sense of enjoyment. What it takes to get to the top, what it takes to stay there and how to comeback from disappointment. Essential lessons, which I learnt from my years of triathlon in Europe.”
