Natasha Van Der Merwe

Birthday: 6/5/1981
Hometown: Kimberley , South Africa
Years in triathlon: 1.5
Occupation: Owner of Tri Team Transport, CoreFusion Coach
Favorite Race and Why: Tough one.. Tie between Lake Pflugerville Sprint - my first race ever, Austin Tri - because of the downtown atmosphere, and Red Licorice's Dude Girl Olympic Tri '09 - my Olympic distance PR to date.

Athlete Bio
I was born and raised in Kimberley , South Africa. I came from an athletic family with both parents and older sisters very active in many sports. It became natural for me to follow in their footsteps at an early age and found myself in the swimming pool at 5am in the morning and on the tennis court after school , starting at the age of 5. I was able to participate in every sport imaginable from the age of 6 to 13 years old, and competed at a national and top regional level for swimming , tennis , track and cross country, field hockey , lifesaving, biathlon. It came a time where i had to focus in on one sport and I chose tennis above all.

From there on i started to represent my country at the top tennis junior tennis player and reached as high as Top 50 in the World. After high school, the only option for me was to play professional tennis. For the next 3 years i competed in tournaments and grand slams all over the world. My tennis career finally came to and end when i just got tired of being on the road all year long, and longed to settle down, and found Austin , Texas as the perfect place to do so.

Now , 7 years after my tennis career , i longed to get into the competitive field again and was introduced to triathlon after a very brief period of running some local road races. Triathlon seemed the perfect fit, and i found myself in the pool again after 15 years, and was introduced for the first time to the bicycle. Triathlon has now not only become something i love to compete in , it has become my day to day lifestyle. The close relationships formed in triathlon ( I met my husband at a race too ) are something i was lacking while travelling and playing tennis, and i have finally found that balance. I look foward to a lifelong journey in this sport.