PAST: Prince of Wales Walesmen
PRESENT: Rashpal Dhillon Oval
FUTURE: CIS Trinity Western University Spartans
Every year in Canada, a handful of teens clear seven meters in the long jump. Andrew de Visser, the country’s defending youth champion in the event, is determined to be one of them.
“Once you hit it, you can say you’re in the club and I definitely want to hit it his year before going into university,” said de Visser, 18, who trains with the Vancouver Thunderbirds and will compete for the track and field team at Trinity Western University next season.
A six-footer, de Visser can jump nearly four times as far as he is tall. He won double gold at the B.C. high school track and field championships for the Walesmen last month and recorded a personal best in his two events, the long jump and 110 metre hurdles. He jumped just seven centimeters short of the seven-metre benchmark.
“When I hit the board and got that lift, it was amazing,” he said. “I was in the air longer than I’d ever been before. I didn’t want to come back down.”
The earnest and quietly determined athlete is the 100 metre hurdles midget national champion for 2011 but has since missed the race because of a recurrent hamstring injury, which he re-injured last week. Thunderbird jumps coach Byron Jack said de Visser is a relentless competitor who delivers when it matters most. “Andrew is a clutch performer,” said Jack.
Although de Visser, at 14, was too young to travel with the B.C. team to nationals in 2010, he persuaded his father to take him to Ottawa for the meet. He pulled out of the hurdles with an injury but in the long jump, he improved his personal best and finished fifth against older athletes. “He is incredibly determined,” said Jack.
Now ranked fifth among Canada’s juniors (boys aged 18 and 19), de Visser is the top long jumper in his age group.
Thunderbirds head coach Derrick Johnston said de Visser has a light but powerful stride and together they have adapted his running mechanics.
“On top of his raw talent, he’s committed to the sport. He’s a student of his events,” said Johnston.
At Trinity Western, de Visser commits to a school that shares his Christian faith and will challenge him academically and athletically. He won’t just be a provincial and national champion, according to head coach Laurie Primeau.
“We value what we call the complete champion,” said the coach. “He brings a lot more to us than simply performance.”
