Mdantsane-born triathlete and internationally qualified coach Vukile Makeleni recently returned from Australia, where he coached the junior and U23 South African triathletes for the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Grand Final in the Gold Coast last month.
Fondly known as “King” in East London, Makeleni, 32, has been making waves in the triathlon world since 2008, when he first tried his hand at the multidiscipline sport by joining the Buffalo City Triathlon Development Programme, introduced by Yorck Wurms from Germany.
“I was a lifesaver before, so swimming wasn’t a problem. I was also strong at running, but cycling was my weak spot.
“I realised I had potential when I qualified for the 2010 World Championships in Hungary,” said Makeleni, reflecting on his journey, which started in NU1 in Mdantsane, where he was raised by his single mother, Yoliswa Makeleni.
“It makes me so happy to see how far he’s come. He’s my only son and he has never gotten into problems, even at school.
“Where he grew up, many of the guys would go the wrong way, but he is one of the good ones,” said Yoliswa proudly.
Competing multiple times nationally and internationally since 2010, Makeleni received his ITU teaching qualification in Incheon, Korea, in September 2017, and now finds himself excelling in his elevated position as an international coach.
“I have a real passion for coaching. I really enjoy helping athletes reach their goals and taking them as far as they want to go.
“I get so excited when my athletes have an event coming up, it almost feels like I’m the one about to race,” said Makeleni, who has also continued to coach young aspiring triathletes in the Buffalo City Triathlon Development Programme.
“I was one of those guys, it’s where I started out and it’s amazing to see kids from the development programme achieve great things. After his first year doing triathlon, one of the guys even came second at the 2015 Africa Champs.”
This year, Makeleni coached SA teams at the Africa Championships in Morocco, as well as the Youth Games Triathlon qualifying series held in the Netherlands and Hungary.
His year as an international coach culminated in the Grand Final in Australia.
“The Grand Final was a tough race for the U23s as it was their first time competing in that age group and at that level, but the juniors had a good race and two out of the four junior team members placed 18th and 21st in the world,” said Makeleni.
Back home, Makeleni is an administrator and sport support staff member at Merrifield College, where his mother also works.
He hopes to one day become a teacher...