SA triathlete Riddle savours ‘best day of my life’, after swallowing Seine water and ending 25th

Triathlete Jamie Riddle swallowed “gallons of water” while swimming in the Seine and finished well off his target of making the top 10, but he still described his Olympic debut as the best day of his life.

The men’s race had been postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday because of the poor water quality and if there was still an issue Riddle suggested he would find out in the near future. 

“I swallowed gallons of water so I’m hoping I’m not visiting the bathroom later.”

Riddle’s Team South Africa partner, Rio 2016 bronze medallist Henri Schoeman, said he managed to keep his mouth shut.

Vicky van der Merwe, who ended 46th in the women’s race earlier in the day, wasn’t overly fazed by the issue around the water quality. “I think we’ve swum in worse,” she said, not wanting to disclose the location, except to say, “Somewhere in Africa”.

Riddle had hoped to finish in the top 10 but despite ending 25th he appreciated that competing on the world’s biggest stage was still the fulfilment of his dream.

“It’s not what I trained for result-wise but I refused to go out there and not enjoy it regardless of the results. 

“I soaked up everything and that was by far probably the best day of my life,” added the 24-year-old, one of the youngest in the field.

“It’s a 12-year dream that’s come to fruition and you dream of a million scenarios [of finishing]. That was not one of them but it was still an amazing day.”

He became emotional as he spoke about the support he received from his father Alec, an excellent marathon coach who helped produce top runners from underprivileged areas.

“This is not his dream but his dream was to see me happy and I’m happy today [Wednesday]. So it is his dream at the end of the day.”

His family were in the Paris crowd. “I can’t wait to see them. I get emotional just thinking about it because oh, hey, they’ve been the best,” he said, swallowing hard to keep back the tears. 

Like his father, Riddle, who grew up in Gqeberha though he calls Stellenbosch home these days, wants to give back and help produce triathletes from underprivileged areas.

“I know I come from a place of privilege and I want to be one who inspires and gives back to our community,” said Riddle, who has a tattoo on his left forearm saying “Africa to the world”.

“So this dream [of competing in triathlon] is not only for me, it’s a platform for me to get what I need to invest back into the youth and underprivileged.

“It’s what I’m trying to do [in] my career and it’s a bigger purpose and that’s why I’ve got a tattoo to remember that.

“There’s no people of colour in triathlon and I think that’s not OK.”