Could you do a 15-metre vertical sprint in 5.8 seconds?
Tauranga Speed Climber Julian David’s skill have taken him around the world for competitions, and recently qualifying for the Olympics after winning a qualifier event in Melbourne.
“I ranked 50th in the world last year,” says Julian.
Julian describes the sport as a vertical sprint on a set route of 20 holds on a standardised 15-meter speed route.
The 19-year-old only started climbing at 15 years old and started speed climbing in 2022.
Julian says his training routine consists of 80 per cent climbing on the wall and 20 per cent in the gym doing exercises such as muscle ups and explosive box jumps.
He won the Halberg Sky Sport Young Emerging Young Talent Award on Wednesday night.
He recently won the Youth World Champs in Korea and qualified for the Olympics after winning a qualifier event in Melbourne.
The wins keep coming for the hard-working and dedicated athlete.
“It’s a lot for a little 19-year-old like me, but I think it shows a promising future so I’m stoked.”
Julian is inspired by 38-year-old French Olympic Speed Climber Bassa Mawem as well as his coach Rob Moore and Sarah Tetzlaff, who used to coach lead and boulder climbing and has qualified for the Olympics as well.
Despite his success, Julian remains humble and dedicated to his sport.
When asked what motivates him, Julian says the sport is very new and so he wants to inspire the next generation.
For aspiring speed climbers, Julian's tip is to “Just trust the process because at first, it’ll seem pretty difficult and pretty hard to improve, but then you’ll hit this point where you just keep getting new PBs [personal bests] and you’ll keep improving and you’ll find that it comes really easily actually once you’ve broken that first barrier.”
1 comment
WOW
Posted on 16-02-2024 15:49 | By Yadick
Sincerest congratulations Julian. Well done. An amazing achievement indeed. When you hit the wall in life, start climbing :-)
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.