FORMER sprinter Sherwin Vries rocked the Namibian athletics scene after representing South Africa in 2003 while attending the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE).
He broke onto the scene as a 19-year-old in 1999 when he broke Frank Fredericks’ national junior 100m and 200m records with respective times of 10,27 seconds and 20,62 seconds.
In that same year Vries also represented Namibia at the All Africa Games.
The former De Duine Secondary School matriculant says: “ I played rugby as well from the age of 15 to 19, and also represented Namibia in the same age group. But I had to make the tough decision during my matric year to focus solely on athletics, because it was my first love.
“I was fortunate that we had an exceptional athletics coach, Sakkie Mouton, at Walvis Bay, and I was so happy that he roped me into his club. I started to run seriously in 1995 and I am happy I made that decision, because I was able to represent my country of birth as well.”
Although he failed to make an impression, Vries holds the distinction of having represented Namibia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia, where he only managed to make it to the second round.
“I was seriously not prepared for the Olympic Games.
“My mindset was just not right, and I thought the Olympics were not important. However, now that I am looking back I realise I made a big mistake with my judgement,” he says.
The retired sprinter, who also played tennis and volleyball as hobbies during his high school days, also made it to the Tertiary Institute Sports Association of Namibia team during his first year at UPE in 2001.
Vries was also a member of the Namibian team at the 2001 World Universiade Games in Beijing, China, where he finished fifth in the 200m.
He had to fly back after getting injured at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in London, England, however.
Vries, together with Stephan Louw, Benedictus Botha and Thobias Akwenye set a 4×100 relay record Universiade Games in Beijing, China, with a time of 39,48 in 2001.
Vries popularly made his international appearances for South Africa at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia and the All Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria.
Apart from reaching the semi-final at the 2003 World Championships, Vries raised eyebrows when he ran a very impressive 10,08 seconds in the 100m to equal the South African record in 2003.
The sprinter also clocked 20,20 seconds in the 200m during the same year.
His last appearance for South Africa was at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, in 2007.
