MEET SA’S FIRST EVER OLYMPIC SURFER BIANCA BUITENDAG
Bianca Buitendag takes us through her training schedule and eating plan ahead of the 2021 Olympics.
Professional Surfer Bianca Buitendag was raised on the waters of False Bay, Cape Town. Since the age of 14 she’s had the pleasure of traveling to dozens of countries per year to compete and perform with the world’s best female surfers. This year however, may be her most exciting yet as she prepares to represent South Africa at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo towards the end of July.
Bianca’s on a strict training to prepare herself mentally and physically for the challenge ahead, and is working with Jan Fourie – a Biokineticist by profession with experience in sports conditioning – to make sure she has the strength required to perform to the best of her ability.
High up on the list is functional movement training, and with fellow surfer Jordy Smith suffering an unfortunate injury, Bianca is now the only surfer representing South Africa at this year’s games so needs to remain strong and focused now more than ever.
That said, she can’t survive on training and surfing alone so in between the gym and the ocean, her favourite spot to re-fuel her body, is the Sugarbird Coffee Company in George that has been a firm favourite of locals for 12 years already.
“This coffee shop is my only chance of survival at this stage. Many people that are close to me know that I hate cooking. I get cookbooks every Christmas but I have not opened them and I’m not planning to,” chuckles Bianca.
As South Africans we are blessed to have some of the greatest surfing conditions in the world, which is why our beautiful coastlines have produced so many great surfers like Bianca and her late father Colin Buitendag.
“I don’t remember starting to surf, I almost felt like I was born into it. Both my parents love the ocean. My late dad was a provincial surfer, and it definitely played a role in what we were doing over weekends. No TV, just surfing an unhealthy amount of hours every day. I would say that’s where my level of surfing grew exponentially,” shares Bianca.
Determined and honoured to represent her country and to be among the first generation of Olympic surfers, we stand fully behind Bianca Buitendag. A pioneer whose efforts will go down in history as having moved the sport forward and opened doors for future generations.
