Catching up with Paralympian Natalie du Toit

From The Times in South Africa:

People ask Natalie du Toit for her autograph all the time: in the bank, in the shopping centre, even in the middle of a movie.

It is not just her immediately apparent determination and ability to overcome the odds that make them want to talk to Du Toit, it is her humility and self-deprecating attitude that make her approachable.

“When I was a child, the people I looked up to were often snotty when I finally got a chance to meet them, but I do my best to take some time out of my day to acknowledge those who are kind enough to support me.”

Du Toit is one of the world’s fastest distance swimmers and one of the few amputees to qualify for the Olympic Games. Less than two years after a scooter accident in which her left leg was crushed, she made it to the finals of the 800m freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. It made her one of the few athletes to compete in the finals of an able-bodied international swimming competition.

This year, Du Toit made history by being selected to compete in the Olympics and the Paralympics at the 2008 Beijing games.

After her accident, Du Toit could no longer compete with able-bodied swimmers in the sprints, in which the legs are vital for starts and turns. She changed to the 10km open-water event, known as the marathon of swimming, which was added to the Olympic programme in 2005.

“The Olympics was an amazing experience for a lot of different reasons,” she said. “It was great just to be there, having qualified for Beijing by finishing fourth in the 10km race at the 2008 Open Water Worlds,” in which the top 10 earn Olympic berths.

She said: “I was mentally ready and I had put in the training, but at the actual games, I didn’t do close to as well as I thought I would. I tried my best,” she said. “I’m not too happy about it, but I’ll be back for 2012 in London.”

Du Toit was at the head of the pack for most of the two-hour race, but in the end finished 1 minute 22.2 seconds behind the overall winner, Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko, to come 16th. But Du Toit’s positivity always seems to shine through: “The race will get better. This is the first time it’s been swum in the Olympics and it’s going to get faster and faster.”

For Du Toit, the most positive aspect of the Olympics was meeting interesting people from all over the world.

“Sports people at the top of their game are inspiring and the Olympic Village was great, but there was something severely lacking in terms of spirit from the South African contingent,” she said. In contrast, “When the South African Paralympic team got to Beijing, the spirit was absolutely amazing.

“The South African Olympic team was very negative. We were constantly monitored, reprimanded and controlled. We were always getting into trouble for everything, whereas there was a completely positive attitude among everyone involved in the Paralympics. Naturally, this attitude showed up in the performances of the competitors. I think this spirit filtered down to the people watching the event.”

Du Toit’s remarkable success in the Paralympic Games also added to her enjoyment of the experience as a whole. She won gold medals in all five of her events.

She was honoured with the Whang Youn-dai Achievement Award, bestowed to inspire physically challenged people to excel in sport. Referring to the award, she said: “I went there to show people that I have a dream; that I have a goal and that I can achieve it, no matter what.”

She said the best part of her experience in China was not standing on the podium five times, it was experiencing the culture.

“Standing on the podium is more nerve wracking than anything else,” she said. “But it certainly is a wonderful feeling to represent your country and see your flag raised.”
Does Du Toit feel that she has gone beyond her accident, having achieved such remarkable success?

“You never fully adjust to the loss of a leg,” she said. “But you have to live through it and deal with it day by day. I do this by having goals and dreams, and by constantly challenging my boundaries. At the moment, I train two to three hours a day and would like to compete in the International World Cup circuit.”

One of her biggest challenges is being able to run again, but for that she needs to have a special knee joint and spring foot made.

“I’m struggling to get a Road Accident Fund grant approved that would help me. I need to prove that I’ve been disadvantaged by my accident.”

That’s the problem with possessing such a positive attitude: Du Toit is struggling to make the authorities believe that she is physically challenged.