South African sports technology platform MatchKit.co has signed up visually impaired para-triathletes Heinrich Vermaak and Gavin Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick picked up a bronze medal at the Beijing Para-Olympics for track cycling and is visually impaired due to Stargardt Disease, a form of macular degeneration that affects central vision in the eyes. Despite his condition, he’s become a pioneer in the sport of para-triathlon and has actively grown the visually impaired para-triathlon category in South Africa.
Vermaak is one of Kilpatrick’s recruits and also has Stargardt. However, his condition has progressed in recent years, leaving him with less than 10% vision.
HAVE YOU ALSO READ?: Riding the Para Surfing Wave
According to Kilpatrick, Vermaak’s guide, Jefferson Murdock, should be credited with the MatchKit tie-up.
“Jeff has been a huge influence in getting our project off the ground in terms of increasing awareness of para-triathlon and visually impaired triathletes, and he introduced us to MatchKit and assisted us with setting up our profiles,” says Kilpatrick. “Because para-triathlon is such a small community, we hope to increase the awareness and encourage both abled and people with disabilities to get in contact with us, whether you would like to become part of the team as an athlete or make a contribution to the programme. Every little bit counts towards making the dream of a person become their reality.”
Visually impaired para-triathletes require a guide to assist them during the event. The guide is an able-bodied triathlete who competes alongside the para-athlete in all three disciplines: swim, cycle and run.
“Jeff is great at finding the best ways to get what we need,” says Vermaak. “He’s spoken to the people that have done similar things and they have directed him as to which is the best way to get the job done. He found out about MatchKit and from him we have learnt what it’s all about, although we are still learning. We hope that MatchKit will be the best platform to get our story out and help us obtain the support we need to achieve our goals on a personal and financial level.”
Kilpatrick and Vermaak know that they have a challenge on their hands, driving awareness in para-triathlon and their own personal journeys, particularly from a sponsor point of view.
“I have been fortunate enough to have built some small but meaningful relationships with sponsors in the past, but only on a personal level and these partnerships have been long lasting,” says Kilpatrick. “I do think that with the right guidance, a more knowledgeable organisation with the right expertise would be able to convert what I have achieved from a personal partnership level into something more effective, in terms of rolling out the bigger picture. I believe in my background as a sportsman to be trusted as a sports ambassador and promoter.”
“I have never tried to find success at such a high level, so whenever I competed I was just happy to do things on my own,” says Vermaak. “It was a big deal for me just to beat normal sighted participants! My drive to push myself has meant that I can be competitive on an international level. Taking this into mind, I have never tried to build my brand and would not even know how to get started. I’m hoping MatchKit will help me with this, so that I can get my story and dreams out to as many people as possible, to hopefully inspire other people in my situation to go after their dreams.”
In March of this year, Vermaak claim a silver medal at the South African Para-Triathlon Championships, with Kilpatrick picking up gold. Now they’ve been invited to participate in the African Para-Triathlon Championships in Egypt in October.