Top young triathlete boasts seven distinctions in matric
The promising young triathlon athlete Peta-Leigh Venter is Tuks Sport School's top performer for 2017.
A partnership with her roommate led to Peta-Leigh Venter bagging seven distinctions making her TuksSport High School’s top student.
Nathania van Niekerk who qualified in the 200m-backstroke for the Commonwealth Games got six distinctions.
The TuksSport High School’s matrics managed for the 13th time in 14 years to get a 100% matric pass rate, 87% achieved university exemption.
Hettie de Villiers (school principal) ascribed the student’s success to them living a philosophy of no regrets to the fullest every day.
“At the school, we emphasise that to be a real winner will never just be about winning medals it is equally, actually more, essential to excel as a student. Winning is going to sleep at night with no regrets; winning is checking your ego at the door; winning is assuming responsibility; winning is living a balanced life,” said De Villiers.
Venter, who is one of the top young triathletes in the country, echoed De Villiers sentiments saying having to train two hours in the morning before school and again for two hours afterwards helped her realise the importance of time management.
“Anything is possible if you set yourself goals and are 100% committed to achieving them. What helped me is the pact I formed with my roommate, Gizelde Strauss. She agreed to help me to become a better triathlete while I helped her with her studies. It was a win-win situation,” Venter explained.
Although Venter is passionate about being a triathlete, she is going to take a sabbatical from serious competition this year to get an opportunity to fulfil her other dream. That is to become a vet.
“I love animals. To be honest, animals are my greatest passion. Unfortunately, I did not get accepted to study veterinary science because I applied too late. I am now going to study biological sciences. If my marks are good enough, I hopefully will be allowed to switch courses,” said Venter in a recent interview.
Once qualified as a vet she hopes she will get to work with horses.
“It is funny I used to be slightly scared of them, but I am not anymore. I think it could be rewarding to work in the racehorse industry as a vet because you get to make a real difference in the life of animals. Ever so often there are stories of horses that are being maltreated,” Venter concluded.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
