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Dan’s the young man for high hurdles!
A young man from Ysgol Dyffryn Taf, in Whitland, is beginning to make a name for himself as a 100 metres high hurdler who has already represented Wales on several occasions – and Daniel Blain is also a useful rugby player and cricketer as a sporting bonus.
In fact, Daniel won his first Welsh title in only his third race after his brother Dylan, who is a well-known Welsh Premier footballer with Newtown, encouraged him to try his luck at hurdles in school, where Dylan is one of the PE teachers on the staff. It certainly worked because Dan, who was 14 at the time, allied his natural ground speed with an innate ability to develop a hurdling style – and was literally up and running!
Early success
He won the school sports, then the Carmarthenshire Schools and Dyfed Schools’ Championships before travelling to the Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff for the Welsh Schools’ 80 metre hurdles final, which he won by about five metres in a time of 11.93 seconds. Ask Dan now and he would say that it was a great moment to receive his first Welsh gold medal!
Since then he has moved up to the under 17 age group, where the distance has been increased to 100 metres and although competing against older athletes he won silver medals in the Welsh Schools Championships and the Welsh Championships, where he represented Carmarthen Harriers, his home club where Ossie Morgan coaches him twice a week.
British Schools' competition
His second place in the Welsh Schools’ event qualified him to run in the British Schools’ SCIB international at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, a massive venue with a blue track, which is unusual. He had left Carmarthen on the team bus at 6.30am and the trip took 11 hours, hardly the best preparation for a big event but he came a creditable fifth, with Welsh team-mate Rhys Williams, who hails from Cardiff, coming third. Dan will still be in this age group next season and is naturally looking forward to improving on his fifth spot then.
When he started out, Dan used a crouch start and found it difficult to change to using blocks- but realised that at some stage he would have to use them if he is to go any higher. But he persevered and is now comfortable out of the blocks, with his spiked shoes another step in the right direction.
Future plans
Ask Dan about moving up to the even more demanding 400 metre hurdles and he would say that he is not planning such a move at the moment because although he has the running technique he would need to real build his endurance so will focus on his current distance for the foreseeable future. But he is eager to reduce his personal best time to 13.35 seconds and so this winter will use the new gymnasium in school to get what he describes as ‘stronger in my core muscles.”
Family support
Supporting him at the SCIB International were parents Gerald and Eileen Blain, and Dan recognises the great support from within his family, not only from his parents and Dylan but from older brother Kevin as well. Kevin once travelled to watch him race in Cardiff and was held up in traffic – but just managed to arrive in time to see his young brother speed past the finishing line. Dad is very vociferous and Dan says that although he stays fully focussed throughout the races he can hear dad shouting “C’mon Dan!” all the time!
Well, Dan has added to his band of supporters since chatting to PembrokeshireSport.co.uk because it is easy to see what a modest and talented young athlete – so we will be shouting “C’mon Dan” alongside Gerald in future races as we wish Daniel Blain every success in his chosen athletics event of 100 metre high hurdles.
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