Swimming NZ Aquablack #278
Swimming has been my passion from the age of 8!
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I achieved national age group titles in the pool, including representing New Zealand in Australia as a teenager. In 2020 I decided to focus on the Olympic-class 10km open water event.
I placed third in my first National Open Water Championships that year, and very soon after made the decision to leave my home in Wellington and move to Dunedin to train under Lars Humer ...
Lars was NZ's Head Olympic Coach and has considerable experience and expertise in coaching elite open water athletes.
I backed up my performance in 2020, placing 1st in the 2021, 2022 & 2024 National Open Water Championships 10km events (I placed 2nd in the event in 2023 & 2025). The success in 2022 gave me automatic qualification to represent NZ at the 2022 World Aquatics World Championships in Budapest, which also attained for me the status of Aquablack!
I was the sole NZ competitor in the Open Water events in Budapest, alongside 12 other Kiwi athletes who competed in the pool events at the same time.
Since then I have continued with a programme of racing at open water events in NZ, Australia and more recently South Africa.
To realise my dream of being the first female Kiwi athlete to compete at the Olympic Games in the 10km event, I need to step it up a gear! I’ve built a programme of events, October to January, to gain more experience racing against my international peers.
And the goal, well that's never changed since the age of 8 - represent NZ at the Olympic Games!
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What It Takes
Competitive swimming is an all-year-round sport. I spend approximately 20 hours a week training, the bulk of which is in the pool!
My day starts at 4:20am, in time for my morning session, and ends around 5:30pm after my afternoon session - just in time to get home, cook a meal, catch up with my chores, wind down for a bit before it all starts again the next day!
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After my Saturday morning training session, my weekends are made up of working as a lifeguard / supervisor at a couple of Dunedin pools, surf lifeguarding for Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club and catching up with friends and family.
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My Race Calendar
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The Open Water competitive season is Oct to Jan each year, starting with the Queensland Open Water Champs and ending with the Australian Open Water Champs. Between Oct and Jan I will travel to Australia to compete at least four times, plus a trip to Taupo each year for the Swimming NZ Open Water Champs.
Outside of the Open Water competition calendar I also compete in pool champs - for my club, at a regional Otago level and at the national level at the Swimming NZ events.
And, when there isn't a clash, I compete in surf events for Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club.
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Supporters
All-up, it costs about $25,000 a year for me to pursue my LA '28 dream. I've had to leave my home town, for the coaching I need, plus the considerable domestic and international travel costs each year to race.
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Unfortunately I don't get any funding from Swimming New Zealand or High Performance Sport NZ.
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I am hugely fortunate that I have one personal supporter, who covers my monthly pool training fees - otherwise it comes down to successfully securing grants (big shout out to Skeggs Foundation) but others are extremely few and far between.
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Like so many athletes it's the bank of Mum & Dad that makes it happen!
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Surf Lifesaving
I joined Dunedin's Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club in 2021 as a natural extension of my love of all things in and around the water.
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Being part of this community has been a great way for me to add to my "extended family" in Dunedin, plus it's enabled me to learn many new skills that come from teaching a squad of younger club members, getting qualified to drive the Inflatable Rescue Boats (IRBs) plus learn the unique rescue and safety techniques that are needed in and around the sea, beaches and rocks.
There is also one other selfish benefit I get to enjoy. As a member of a surf club I am eligible to race in the Dunedin White Island race every October, something which I love doing and have successfully won since 2021!
