Dominique Donner is South Africa's number one female triathlete, there is no argument. She may not have gone to Sydney last year, but the stats dont lie, Donner has all but crushed the rest of the competition in South Africa and is looking to step up into the international fold in the near future.

"I'd really like to win the African champs. I was second last year and I'd like to go one up on that this year. After that I'd like to get back onto the world circuit. It all depends on the kind of sponsorhip you can get and so on. One world cup race (none of which are held in South Africa) can cost up to R10 000 and there are 16 in a year and that's how you get your world ranking.

"At the moment I have no sponsor but the future looks more promising although I haven't seen anything in black and white yet."

Capetonian Dominique puts in more than her share of effort, training every day for up to 16 hours a week. She wants to push that towards 30 as training intensifies towards the 2001 Iron Man in Gordon's Bay on the 31 March and then the Commonwealth Games in Manchester next year.

Athens 2004 is the main target and Dominique is looking to make up for her disappointment last year when NOCSA chose not to send her to the Olympics. "I'm really looking forward to the Commonwealth Games mainly because it has nothing to do with Nocsa, so I'm sure I'll be there. I think that four triathletes are sent. Athens is the big one. I'll be 33 at that stage and I think that's when most female triathletes are at their best. The Olympic champion at the moment is 34 and if you look at the best triathletes around the world, they are all in their 30's."

Training for this svelte athlete has never been easy, not that training ever is! With her left leg a centimetre shorter than her right, she's had to train and compete with shoe inserts and has suffered from curvature of the spine due to her leg discrepancy. Aqua jogging helps by being less barring on the knees.

"It also builds stamina and mileage without the heavy toll of road jogging."

Dominique is currently without a coach and trains mainly on her own, but she has been slowly increasing the intensity of her training and preparation.

"To prepare for races I use visualization techniques while lying in my bed the night before a race. If my body is in good condition then ther's nothing else for me to worry about. I just go out hard right from the start. I don't stress myself out worrying about other athletes either. You can't control them so you shouldn't worry about what they are going to do."