The UJ side are ready to show the country their powerhouse long jumper, Zarck Visser, when the Varsity Athletics competition gets underway on Monday.
The long jumper has jumped the furthest in the world this year with an 8.91m at a meeting in Pretoria in March and will go into the competition in Stellenbosch on Monday as the man to beat.
The squad from Johannesburg have got two other long jumpers Rushwal Samaai and Joshua Diamond who are ranked tenth and 29th in the world this year.
The UJ squad is currently involved in the National Championships which will provide a great lead up to the first Varsity Athletics competition starting on Monday evening.
Francois Fouche told varsitysportssa.com: “Our squad is quite excited for the competition and a lot of them will be involved in a competition like this for the first time.”
“With it being the first time for these athletes, many of them will be put under more strain with three consecutive weeks of competition,” Fouche added.
For a side from the highveld UJ will be grateful for the opportunity to make the trip down the Stellenbosch a week earlier so they can adapt to the conditions.
“In the field events conditions are very different here [Stellenbosch] as compared to Johannesburg. The humidity means that athletes could battle with grip on their apparatus.”
Another factor that Fouche mentioned was the impact of the wind as well as the altitude.
“The wind is also another factor with some of the events,” he said.
“The middle distance runners enjoy the conditions at the coast because there is more air but the wind can become a problem,” Fouche explained.
