Simon Lessing - Starting Young

Starting Young

By the end of his fifth year at school, he had won honors in swimming, sailing and biathlon and was known as a cross-country runner. When Simon was 9, his family moved to Durban, a port city set on the East Coast.

Growing up, surfing and rugby were two of the major sports in Durban, but Simon resisted the pressure to make the change to these activities. He trained an average of 3 hours a day in his areas of interest: sailing, swimming, track, cross-country and duathlon. He developed an interest in hiking and hiked in the Drakensberg Mountain range. His swim coach, David McCarney, encouraged Simon to try a family oriented race he organized at Kloof High School.

In 1988, Simon was the South African triathlon champion. He was selected to represent South Africa in a biathlon but suffered a broken leg in an accident during a local triathlon.

Simon moved to Britain at age 18 and continued his international sporting career in Europe. He was entitled to dual citizenship because his mother was born in England.