Primary school teacher and volleyball player Shakira Doughlin has become a household name in bikini fitness where her endearing smile, well toned and sculptured body complimented by stage presentations have gained her fans and titles befitting a queen.
However, getting into bikini fitness three years ago was an eye-opener for the now 26-year-old Shakira as she had just a vague idea of the requirements of the competition. “I thought that it was just ensuring that you were relatively toned and not too hard like a bodybuilder.
“I discovered that the aesthetics of hairstyle, outfits, shoes, bracelets, earrings and rings, along with the regimen of dieting, walking, smiling and using the music to your advantage while executing a great routine all were critical towards your success,” said Shakira.
As a quick learner and utilising the planning discipline developed over five years of being a teacher, Shakira organised her approach and execution to the extent that her capturing of the 2015 national bikini fitness title at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre was merely the continuation of success locally and regionally since 2011.
Even so, she discovered that her new passion, just like her profession, was something that would become an integral part of her life. “I have taught for the past five years with the past two years at Deacons Primary to realise that teaching has always been a latent desire of mine.
“Very often it is only when you find yourself in a particular situation that you realise that it is what you had always wanted to do. Teaching is something which I have always seen in myself since as a child my games were centred around teaching and even as I got older when something was to be written on the chalkboard I was the person doing it,” stated Douglin.
However, life was not always rosy for the former Lawrence T. Gay student. “My parents got divorced when I was ten and although they advised me not to let it affect my 11-Plus exam, I must say that it had an impact on my preparation for the exams. When I passed for St James Secondary, I opted to live with my father in St Michael as my mother moved to Christ Church and the comfort level and ability to get to school easier helped me with that decision.
“I was into training seriously from about age nine as I joined BC Trac and that involved a lot of running and training. Then I picked up volleyball where I played for my school, the Combined Schools and the junior team before joining Deacons,” Shakira added.
Entering her first competition, the then Body Fitness, Shakira placed second and recognised that she could become a serious competitor. When bikini fitness was introduced at the nationals in August 2011 she won that and she again captured the title in 2013. This year she also won the Sports World Classic in Trinidad and Tobago and she is hoping to make a better showing at her second CAC this year in The Bahamas
“When I started competing in bikini fitness seriously, the change in diet was not much of a challenge since I was not a big eater anyhow and it was perfect for me to be more selective in what I ate and how I prepared my meals. As a teacher, I have followed a strict regimen of utilising my time. Thus, my social activities were always planned to a schedule so I simply applied that principle to my training and socialising.
“Once you make your training and dieting a lifestyle you do not suffer challenges as everything becomes a part of your living habits. After a competition I would have a week off where I would eat and drink the things that I would forgo on a daily basis.
“However, choosing the right friends are just as critical as your training and dieting since you have to select friends who understand your mission and buy in to your objectives for you to be successful. Whenever I found myself in a relationship where anyone wanted me to make a choice, I did not choose, I allowed them to make their choice.”
“If someone is not understanding of your goals they may very well challenge your diets, your training habits and your reason for doing what you do and they challenge your time. Supportive friends would help to keep you on track and remind you of your mission. It is easier when you have support from those around you,” she stated.
The bikini fitness queen acknowledged that an attractive person could sometimes suffer from harassment from strangers when parading on stage she has therefore developed the defence of being tactful in turning away too intense support. “Being in the public eye exposes me greater to that danger but once you are not uncouth you can deal with the problem,” she stressed.
However, Shakira welcomes the support of the fans at the show since she sees that as critical to her performance and that of the other athletes. Even so, the hard taskmaster admits that she is very often disappointed after her routine.
“You go on stage with a routine in mind and sometimes you may execute 90 per cent of the routine but that 10 per cent, just like the one student out of 20 who did not understand something in class, makes you beat yourself up.
“Before going on stage we are worried when we see the package from one of our opponents and we begin to question if we have done enough abs workout, chosen the right outfit, and so on.”
With the intense gaze and perfect diction of someone who has spent a lifetime in teaching, Shakira disclosed that her recent switch to the ABC Fitness Studio came about when she wanted to help out a friend who was conducting a training programme at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex. It was only early in January 2015 that ABC moved into a building at the National Aquatic Centre and Shakira joined in May to help out friend Kenny Griffith with the in house competition by assisting the rookies with their posing. Since then she has remained with the club, steadfast in the belief that her success and that of some of the other members will see ABC becoming the club to join going forward.
“I had belonged to another club and the on-stage success of some of the athletes at that club saw an explosion of membership where individuals would drive past two and three clubs from all parts of the island to get to that club. Our success and the expertise of the coaches here at ABC will create that effect. I am confident.”