Matthew has a Spring in his step!
But right now he is concentrating on the Carifta Games which start next weekend in the Turks and Caicos.
Spring will leave Bermuda on Wednesday with 15 other young athletes and will try to win another medal at the annual Games.
Last year at the Carifta Games in Guadeloupe the youngster brought home the bronze in the 3,000 metres. And then later in 2006 he followed that up with a silver medal in the 1,500 metres at the Junior CAC Games in Trinidad.
Last week Government ackowledged Spring’s steady improvement on the track when they presented him with $4,000 to compete in top events in the United States as part of the National Junior Athlete Sponsorship Programme.
Next weekend Spring will compete in three events at Carifta — the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 metres.
But it is the 1,500 metres that remains his favourite.
“My favourite distance is the 1,500 because it is an intense race and more exciting. In the 800 if you make a mistake you do not have that much time to make it up but in the 1500 if you make a mistake you have time to recover,” said Spring this week.
Right now it is a rather lonely time for the runner as his main training partners like Michael Donawa have gone away to school.
“It becomes a mental thing,” he said of training. “You are literally by yourself. But I am looking forward to going abroad to compete. You have to step it up a lot — you have to have a different mind set.”
Dedication is one thing he is not lacking.
“I train four to five times a week — sometimes six times,” he said adding that national track and field coach Gerry Swan is always pushing him.
“Some days Mr. Swan has us do speed work for the extra kicks at the end of a race — for the last 200 metres. And then we will sometimes do endurance work and other days is is strengthening of the mind — even if it is hard you have learn to keep on going. Other times we will do long runs to build up our cardiovascular system.”
Coach Swan said of Spring: “He has really come along well now. I expected him to qualify for the IAAF World Youth Championships this year. And he has been identified as a prospect to represent Bermuda at the 2012 Olympic Games.”
Spring himself said: “My main goal is to go to the 2012 Olympics for the 1500 metres.”
And he is also looking forward to the track surface at the Carifta Games in the Turks and Caicos — a Mundo track which has just been laid.
“The track here (at the National Sports Centre) is slow but it is good for a training because it is bouncier. But a lot of tracks away are these new ones called Mundo tracks and they are flat and faster — not as much bounce in it. I think the Bermuda squad will be running faster times at Carifta than we run in Bermuda,” said Spring.
It was five years ago when head coach at the Pacers Track Club, Cal Simons, saw the raw talent in Spring.
“I started running with the Bermuda Pacers with Mr. Simons — he was the one who recognised my talent in running and he was the one who told my mother to encourage me to run. He encouraged me to come to Pacers,” added Spring.
The Carifta Games will be held from April 7-9 over the Easter weekend and accompanying the team will be head coach Gerry Swan, Donna Watson (team manger), Devon Bean and Sonia Showers (assistant coaches), BTFA president Clarence Smith and official Carol Bassett.
The athletes competing are:
Under 17 girls
Alexis (Bean) Armstrong (1500m, 3000m), Taylor-Ashley Bean(1500, 800m, 400m), Ashley Berry(1500m, 3000m), Tare Brangman (high jump), Jasmine Brunson (long jump and triple jump), Allison Outerbridge (high jump and triple jump), Jessica Richardson (200m, 400m, 100m).
Under 17 boys
Matthew Spring (800m, 1500m, 3000m), Darico Clarke (400m, 800m).
Under 20 girls
Arantxa King (long jump and triple jump), Deanne Lightbourne (400m, 800m), Eulane Douglas(100m, 200m).
Under 20 boys
Harold ‘Trey’ Houston (100m, 200m), Sean Trott (5000m), Taijaun Talbot (800m), Kijuan Wilkinson(high jump).
