FAITH, HOPE AND love jumps out from the detailed sleeve tattoo on Britney Arendse’s forearm.
“Faith in God because if we didn’t have God, I wouldn’t be here today,” the Paralympian tells The 42.
“Hope in coming back. I got a fourth chance in life, because my heart stopped three times — once in the ambulance and twice on the operating table. So hope that the paramedics and doctors could bring me back.
“And then love for all the people that have been with me through my journey.”
Ohana is another standout word. That’s a nod to Lilo and Stitch, Arendse says.
“Ohana means family — family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten,” as the film quote goes.
Fifteen years on from sustaining a spinal cord injury in a car accident, Arendse is preparing to compete at her second Paralympic Games.
The Cavan power lifter has been managing an elbow injury through the build-up, but all things considered, everything is going well. She flew to Paris on Wednesday, with her ‘up to 79kg’ benching final not until the last day of competition on 7 September.
Power lifting “came out of nowhere” for Arendse, who was born in South Africa and moved to Ireland with her family as a child.
She was initially recruited at a wheelchair basketball blitz aged 16, having previously tried several sports in hospital.
“You could represent your country and do a sport that you can really go far in,” Arendse was told at tryouts at the Irish Wheelchair Association. “You could become fitter, stronger – you’re built for it, basically.”
She went with it.
“Obviously not on the top of my list was Paralympic Games,” she says. “I just said, ‘Get the sport bigger, widely known — especially in Ireland, it wasn’t as known.
“Nicola [Dore] was the first woman on the team in Ireland. I said, ‘I might as well stand beside her and represent the sport for Ireland.’ Since that, it’s just been game after game, competition after competition, getting stronger. It’s just been a journey and a half!”
The rigorous training schedule, diet and introduction of nutritionists was difficult at first, but it’s something the 24-year-old has become accustomed to.
“The change in diet and routine was immense because I was still in school. When I started, I was in third year — training first after getting home, then homework, then eating and the rest, it was awkward to manage but over the space of two or three years, we kind of got used to it.”
Discipline and dedication levels went through the roof as Arendse prioritised her sport through Transition Year and Leaving Cert Applied.
“Others were getting food out of the canteen, I had to bring my food in with me because I couldn’t have the pizza, the sausage rolls in the canteen. I couldn’t have their hot chocolates and stuff, I had to bring my own coffee, water, Mi Wadi, sandwiches and salads.
“Kids would be staring at me and laughing at me, believe it or not, because I brought in tuna salad. They’d be like, ‘The smell of that’ – childish things, but I’d be like, ‘Listen, that’s my life now. Healthier eating.’
“I take to it very easily. I’m not too upset — it’s like, ‘Ah I can eat that in a month’s time,’ or look forward to it some other time. It does you good mentally. You’re focused when it comes to competition.”
Coached and spotted by her father, Denver, Arendse is ready for lift-off at her second Games.
Her personal best has shot up recently — qualifying with 128kg — in correlation with constantly rising standards across the sport.
She finished seventh with 107kg in the ‘up to 73kg’ category in Tokyo, while in her current weight class, 141kg took gold with 133kg and 132kg second and third respectively. There was a significant drop to fourth: 115kg. The highest-ranked qualifier this time around is 153kg.
Arendse, meanwhile, is fifth, and told RTÉ this week she is targeting the podium.
“I’m lifting heavier and heavier every year,” Arendse concludes.
“I’m just doing my best to keep up and build strength.”
Always lifting the bar.
