Former coach of the year Robert Chisholm feels that all his hard work in coaching has paid off as one of his leading athletes Rupert Perry went from impressive to phenomenal in breaking the 10-second barrier on local soil last Friday.
According to timekeepers, 23-year-old Perry did the unprecedented and clocked an astounding hand-timed performance of 9.90 seconds to win the men’s 100m finals at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) ground, Ayangana during the final day of the 2012 Inter Service Annual Athletic Championships (ISAAC).
Chisholm told Stabroek Sport yesterday that he was not surprised by this time as he had seen evidence of it during training.
“I realised that he would have gotten a fast time like that since they were doing ‘flys’ in training every week and you know how I do the `flys’ with high intensity. We were doing 40m `flys’ and getting times like high three and low four (seconds) in the `flys’ so I knew the race would have been run very fast.”
After being informed of Perry’s 9.90s 100m, Chisholm said his first reaction was emotions of joy and fulfilment rather than astonishment.
“First thing I said was, `he get it boy’… since before the race I told him that if he came out very explosive and held his drive phase a bit longer, he would have more energy coming down to bottom to and be able to run 9-something,” Chisholm added.
The GDF level three IAAF certified sprint coach said that he also felt that if Olympian Winston George had not false started, Perry would have gotten more competition and be pushed to clock an even faster time. Perry returned later that day to overcome a valiant challenge from George clocking 20s flat in the 200m. Perry had run 20.1s over a month ago to win the GDF’s Inter Unit 200m at the same venue. Chisholm said that he was surprised at Perry’s 200m time as he was almost certain that Perry would have run under 20 seconds in that his pet event.
“I was expecting the 200m would have run faster, like high-19s but what happen was that Perry didn’t come out as explosive as he should,” Chisholm added.
Perry had been injured for most of the season after fracturing his ankle while training at the High Performance Centre in Jamaica. Chisholm also stated that it was not shocking either that Perry was able to run that fast so late in the season because his training was specifically tailored to allow him to peak at that meet.
Now that Perry’s season is over, Chisholm said that he has a packed off-season programme to help work on Perry’s strength and endurance.
“Week after next we will start off-season (training) and really do some strength and endurance so next year y’all are going to really see some fast times from both male and females,” Chisholm promised.
Chisholm said that Commodore Gary Best has once again pledged his unwavering support to the GDF track and field club. Last year the GDF ensured that Perry and former ISAAC champion and ALBA Games medallist Quinse Clarke trained with the world’s fastest sprinters at the Jamaica High Performance Centre. Chisholm said the possibility exists that Perry may once again benefit from similar initiatives by virtue of his recent showings.
Finally, Chisholm said that he was encouraged as a coach by the performances of Perry who is currently the three-time ISAAC 200m champion and record holder and two-time 100m champion. Chisholm said that he is motivated to work harder with all his other athletes so that they too can achieve similar feats.
