Swimmer Terence Parkin may have just missed out on doing a “Michael Phelps” by winning seven golds at the Taipei Deaflympics — one less than Phelps’ tally at the Beijing Olympics last year — but he has achieved something that even the “Baltimore Bullet” couldn’t manage.
Parkin has also tasted success out of the pool — his bronze medal in the 93.12km Individual Road Race cycling event is at least as much a source of pride for the affable South African as his aquatic collection.
“I was so, so happy,” he says of his cycling medal. “It’s a totally different sport, so I was delighted.”
PHOTO: TONY PHILLIPS, TAIPEI TIMES
It wasn’t the first time Parkin has done well on two wheels. In 2006 he won gold in the 120km road race at the World Deaf Cycling Championships, only a year after he scooped an incredible 12 golds and a silver in the pool at the Deaflympics in Melbourne, breaking a number of world deaf records in the process.
“Just before the Deaflympics in 2005 I was doing some cycling and I enjoyed it,” he recalls, a few hours before winning his final gold of these Games, in the 1,500m Freestyle swim on Sunday. “I was having fun and took part in some competitions.”
“I only swam [in Melbourne] in 2005, I wasn’t in the cycling, but I had a look at the times that were being registered and I thought I could compete,” he says, speaking through a sign language interpreter.
Despite these remarkable achievements, the feat that propelled Parkin into the sporting limelight was his silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
That a deaf athlete had reached such a sporting pinnacle made the news worldwide and he was named World Deaf Sportsman of the Century.
Parkin, with his 1.85m frame and (at the time) shaved head, became an instantly recognizable figure back home and says he is happy his success served as a catalyst for other deaf athletes.
The 29-year-old’s accomplishments at the Taipei Deaflympics, his fourth, are all the more remarkable given he didn’t decide to compete in them until earlier this year. Moreover, he had to fit his preparations around his family life and work coaching children at a swimming club in Johannesburg.
“I only started proper training four months ago,” he says. “I hadn’t swum [competitively] for three years. The sports association was asking me to get involved again, so I said yes and trained hard for the Games.”
Parkin will take happy memories of his time in Taiwan back home to South Africa — and not just of his medal tally.
“I was so impressed with the opening ceremony. I take my hat off to Taipei. What they did was wonderful,” he says.
He points out that although the Sydney Olympics were a great experience, the Deaflympics are more social, with deaf athletes from around the world excited to see each other every four years.
Although now at a relatively advanced age for a swimmer, he plans to be at the next Games in Athens in 2013 and, program allowing, hopes to compete as a swimmer and cyclist again.
Parkin’s sporting CV also includes triathlons, and although the swimming and cycling components present few problems, it’s another story with the third part of the event.
“For me, the worst part is the running, I’m always so far back,” he cheerfully admits, offering some consolation to the rest of us who can only marvel at his extraordinary feats.
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