MARK ETHERIDGE: Weightlifting duo of Spies and Burger carry SA’s Commonwealth flame

Most South Africans felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders when the seven weeks of initial hard lockdown were slightly relaxed in 2020. Some though, such as Anneke Spies and Ruben Burger, spent most of the lockdown doing the opposite — adding more.

Now the two Mossel Bay-based weightlifters are Birmingham-bound as part of the Team SA squad to compete at the Commonwealth Games in England later in 2022, part of a four-strong weightlifting group.

Burger, 31, has spent most of his life in the small southern Cape coastal town, whereas 28-year-old Spies grew up in Durban before working as a quantity surveyor on the highveld.

Both of their sporting journeys took them on the multidisciplinary route of CrossFit and finally led to their career paths crossing.

Says Spies, “I enjoyed all sports at school, and in grade 10 decided to focus on hockey. My dad said there wasn’t really money for me to join a hockey club after school, but he’s always had my back so would drive to Harlequins rugby ground every weekend and read the newspaper while I’d do my hockey drills for hours.

“He loved fishing and during those trips we’d wake up early and then he’d let me go for a run while he drove behind me to make sure that I was safe. I was taught from an early age that you have to work hard to achieve your goals but that family are there to help you, so while we didn’t have much money, there was always unconditional support and encouragement.”

After graduating with a BSc degree and honours in quantity surveying at the University of Pretoria, she started dabbling in CrossFit, a sport in which she reached the highest national level, and that took her on to weightlifting.

“At first I was using it as part of CrossFit, then I really started liking it and my coach, Branco Visagie, only needed to make a few tweaks to my technique because I was already strong for my body weight.”

Her and Burger’s paths had already crossed on social media after competing at various provincial and national competitions.

“Then at 2019 nationals in Cape Town I was there alone, coach couldn’t make it, and Ruben asked if he could help load my bar but I was too busy focusing on my competition to really notice the attention he was giving me,” she says.

“But we started chatting more after that and realised that we both had the same outlook on life and were driven by the same passions. I visited him in Mossel Bay for the first time in February 2020 and the next month lockdown happened.”

Burger then had the bright idea to invite Spies to come and train with him during the first three-week lockdown.

“I had first chatted to Anneke in person at the 2019 nationals but she had politely ‘shut me down’ at the time,” Burger said. “But when lockdown happened I told her it would just make sense for her to come down here and train at my sports and conditioning business, Eden Fitness and CrossFit Charisma, rather than train by herself with limited equipment.”

Good things

Spies didn’t need much encouragement to leap into her car with pet Yorkshire terriers Buksie and Nala and head to Mossel Bay. There they hooked up with Burger and French bulldog Benji and the rest, as they say, is history.

Three weeks led to five, then seven weeks and now they are one head-over-heels couple with three equally delighted hounds. “At least some good things came out of lockdown,” says Burger.

His story is one of early injury setback and having to switch careers.

“At Hoërskool Outeniqua in George, my focus was hurdles and javelin and I was pretty good, competing at national level but when I was 16 I got a serious back injury and had to have a big operation.”

The result left Burger a bionic man. “They fused two of my vertebrae, and I’ve now got three mechanical discs and a new titanium vertebra with screws and pins. The saga took close on three years, during which I had to learn to sit up straight first, then stand and then walk — all from scratch.”

He returned to track-and-field as he had an overseas athletics scholarship but he soon found that due to the operation his range of movement was restricted, and he is unable to twist and bend simultaneously — a skill required for javelin and hurdles.

Wasting time

“So then I did CrossFit and did well. One of my sponsors said he wanted to introduce me to a Bulgarian guy, Petar Kartev, who would help me with my lifting.

“He came and watched me one day. I wasn’t overly impressed with this old guy just sitting in the corner watching me and saying nothing,” he recalls. “But the next day he came up to me and said, ‘You’re wasting your time with CrossFit — switch to weightlifting full time and you’ll be at world championships within a few years’.”

Burger hasn’t looked back and has now broken the national record eight times in the past four years. His current best total weight in the 96kg category is 316kg. He is aiming for a 150kg+ and a 185kg+ clean and jerk in Birmingham that should put him in medal contention.

Spies campaigns in the 59kg division and boasts a best clean and jerk of 103kg and snatch of 82kg. She’s targeting goals of 108kg and 86kg in Birmingham that should guarantee at least a top-five slot.

“Commonwealth Games where we get funding and support [from the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee] will be a great experience for us in a sport that is almost entirely self-funded in SA,” says Burger.

Building bodies

“Ruben has experienced world championships before, but both of us are looking forward to being part of a multicode event and part of Team SA,” says Spies.

Until then, though, it’s all hands to the pump, building the business, building bodies and, of course, the bond between them.

Final word goes to a fellow weightlifter who has walked the talk in terms of Commonwealth Games lifting. Mona de Lacey (née Pretorius) is a veteran of four Commonwealth Games, the highlight bagging bronze at Gold Coast 2018.

Now living in New Zealand, she says, “When you go to such a big event, just know that it’s a huge honour to wear the green and gold, already a huge achievement in itself. My bonus was winning the medal.

“The main advice I can give them is to just focus on your mental health. Physically the work is done by the time you get to the games, and your mind should be at ease.

“They must make sure they embrace every second … of the Team SA experience, soak them up, and then the memories will live with them forever.”