Putting in hours to reach top of lower-profile sports
Sport: CrossFit
Sporting achievement and/or goals: I have qualified for a CrossFit competition in Brisbane this year — the Torian Pro on May 30 to June 1. I will be the only New Zealander in the 16-17 girls' category to qualify for it. My goal for this competition is to go out and have fun, gain experience and be the best I can be, and to trust my training. I also got into Olympic weightlifting at the same time and have won a New Zealand secondary schools title.
How did you get into this sport: I got into this sport after 11 years of competitive gymnastics because my coach suggested I should try it. LAWRENCE AREA SCHOOL Tegan Leadbeater
Sport played: Rodeo/bull riding
Sporting achievement and/or goals: I was the reserve rider for the transtasman competition in 2024. One of my goals for the future is to represent New Zealand in the transtasman competition. Another goal is to win a national title. There are not many female bull riders in the South Island. I am one of only three.
How did you get into this sport: My stepdad was a judge for over 10 years and I saw a couple of rides and was hooked. Mason McLaren
Sport played: Kyokshun karate
Sporting achievement and/or goals: National title junior lightweight second place. Junior middleweight second. This year's goal is to win at the nationals next month at Elwood School, Christchurch.
How did you get into this sport: A friend's grandfather runs the club. I have been doing this martial art for almost eight years. ST HILDA'S COLLEGIATE Lily Havard
Sport played: Cycling
Sporting achievement and/or goals: I swapped to cycling from competitive swimming just over a year ago. Since then I have been to France and trained alongside a club team there. This fuelled my motivation for road cycling. My goal is to take what I learned in France and next winter do a European summer racing block. I also want to build on my track and MTB skills and compete in those disciplines.
How did you get into this sport: My parents used to ride and compete until I was born, so I have always been around bikes. This included being towed in the trailer behind Mum's bike on Sunday long rides since before I could walk. Before quitting swimming, I had done the odd Monday night racing out on the Taieri and Sunday rides with Mum, but never really competed. After deciding to quit swimming, I started to ride more, and since then, I haven't really stopped. Cycling is a great sport because there are many disciplines to mix it up and keep it interesting. KING'S HIGH SCHOOL Jack Higgins
Sport: Surfing
Sporting achievement and/or goals: In my surfing career so far, I have achieved many goals I wouldn't think would come true. One of them was finishing fourth in the under-16s in New Zealand, which meant a lot to me as it was my first year in the U16s last year. Another achievement I'm very proud of is winning the U16 division at the Duke Festival of Surfing in Christchurch. This means a lot because many of the best surfers in New Zealand came down for this comp and to beat them was so special. Next year I'm moving into the U18 division, which is going to be very hard but I have a goal of making the New Zealand surfing team. It will be difficult but I believe I can do it.
How did you get into this sport: My dad got me into surfing because he loved the sport also and wanted to teach me. The first time he took me surfing was when I was around 9 months in Bali. It was such a special moment to me till this day and it felt so cool to be riding a wave and I wanted to keep doing it. I wanted to keep improving until I could stand up, then till I could do a manoeuvre, and each day my friends kept inspiring me to get better and better. Now we have friendly competitions to continue pushing each other to our limits. My friends and family are the reason why I'm here today. East Otago High School Ryan Howard
Sport played: Ice hockey
Sporting achievement: Member of Dunedin Thunder team who won the 2024 New Zealand under-15 ice hockey national tournament.
Sporting goals: To make the New Zealand under-16 team this year.
How did you get into this sport: From watching the movie The Mighty Ducks Ashley Howard
Sport played: Ice hockey
Sporting achievement: New Zealand under-18 reserve in 22024, also playing with the Dunedin Thunder women.
Sporting goals: This year I am working to improve skating skills so I can go play in another country
How did you get into this sport: Through my brother, Ryan, and dad encouraging me by sending me ice hockey videos to watch.
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NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
All Blacks v Argentina: Kendrick Lynn - the Kiwi helping the Pumas plot the All Blacks' downfall
After transitioning from playing to coaching in Lyon, Lynn returned home to link with the Highlanders in 2023 alongside southern All Blacks Ethan de Groot and Fabian Holland. Helping plot the All Blacks' downfall one year later was not on his radar. 'It was amazing to be a part of. That was a huge result,' Lynn recalls of the Pumas' triumph in Wellington. 'I always thought it would be great to coach internationally but never thought Argentina would be an option. It's very different, very unique, in that the vast majority of the team play in Europe. 'Felipe has done really well in establishing core values with how we behave. That really helped us have that season last year. 'It's certainly different being a Kiwi coaching against the All Blacks. It probably felt the most strange in the lead-up to the game but once you're into it, it's your role and I'm doing everything I can to help the Pumas win. It felt great. 'It was really good to back the win over the All Blacks up and beat the Springboks and we had a really good performance in Aussie, where we had a record score [67-27] against them but our next level is being able to do it game after game. We had ups and downs. Every time we beat the top guys we lost the next game.' The Pumas' struggles for sustained success were, indeed, illustrated by their one-sided loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park - yet their victory the previous week was no aberration. Three times in the past five years – in Western Sydney, Christchurch and Wellington – the Pumas savoured similar success. Their last frontier, though, is to achieve that feat at home, with the 21-21 draw in 1985 in Buenos Aires against Sir Brian Lochore's All Blacks the closest in 16 attempts. One reason the Pumas start heavy outsiders in Cordoba and Buenos Aires in the next two weeks is that they must prove they can cope with a level of expectation and pressure they are not burdened by on the road. 'If we can rise to the occasion at home, it would be huge for the team and the country,' Lynn said. 'Rugby in Argentina is in an interesting spot. There was a rocky period five or six years ago but now it's moving in a positive direction. Amateur rugby is thriving. The club scene is awesome. 'What we did last year, the style of play we're trying to bring in, will keep growing that. To beat a team like the All Blacks at home would back up what we did last year and solidify what we're trying to achieve as we build in the next few years.' To target the All Blacks and continued improvement in the Rugby Championship, the Pumas rested many of their frontline European-based players from their July series. Results reflected that strategic approach as England, missing many of their incumbents selected for Lions duties, won both tests in Argentina. 'We made the conscious decision as a staff to give those top players a rest in July. With the unique situation of them playing in Europe, they don't get rested compared to Super Rugby or in Ireland. We don't have any control of how much the guys are playing. 'We knew it was going to be a tougher series against England but we need to be blooding more depth. Performance-wise it wasn't great, but long-term it was positive. 'These guys are now going to be coming back fresh – we've had 11 guys who had time off, a little mini preseason – and now it's a matter of getting them up to international footy speed.' Kendrick Lynn on the attack for the Highlanders in 2011. Photo / Photosport Lynn follows a well-trodden path of Kiwis immersing themselves with the Pumas. Sir Graham Henry and David Kidwell, the latter joining the Highlanders as defence coach next season, are other high-profile New Zealanders to coach against the All Blacks. Before accepting the Pumas attack coach role, Lynn spoke with former head coach Michael Cheika to ensure he would fit in. 'Culturally, the Pumas are used to having a foreign coach. The language is fine because their English is really good. My Spanish is a work on. I got a tip from Michael Cheika to watch Nachos. He reckons that's how he learned with English subtitles. Because I can speak French I can pop in and out of that if I need to as well. 'Argentina in a lot of ways can be everyone's second favourite team. They've had that underdog status in the past. They've been capable of pulling off big performances and they play a style of rugby people enjoy so I wanted to be part of that and see what I can do to keep growing it. 'With a lot of 25, 26, 27-year-olds who have played together a lot, especially for the Jaguares, there's potential to keep improving.' Stylistically, the Pumas can hurt any team in multiple ways. Loose forwards Pablo Matera, who won a Super Rugby championship under Robertson at the Crusaders, and Marcus Kremer are among the world's best breakdown exponents. Defensively, the Pumas have proven difficult to penetrate, too. But it's their creative, open, attacking intent that appealed to Lynn. 'There's certainly an element of unstructured play the Argentinians really enjoy which is playing fast, keeping it alive, running into space. It's harnessing that. We're really strong on the guys being brave and freeing them up so they can have a crack. 'It's about giving them the detail they need in the international game to break down defences, understanding how we play and their roles and getting them to that stage where they can look up and play whatever is in front of them to get that Argentinian flair. 'The good thing about the team is they're capable of emotionally getting up. We're working on making sure we can get that right balance between being in the right emotional headspace to rip right in but not let it go over where it can lead to ill-discipline or errors.' Treading that fine line balance could determine whether the Pumas break their last glass ceiling against the All Blacks. All Blacks v Argentina 9.15am, Sunday For live commentary join Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio. Or catch the ACC commentary on their iHeartRadio stream. Live updates: Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of The Rugby Direct podcast.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Letters: Christopher Luxon needs to remember he is a politician and no longer a CEO
More to NZ rugby than Mo'unga Firstly, may I state that Richie Mo'unga is an excellent first five and I fully support him going overseas to earn good money to support him and his family in the future. New Zealand rugby has become obsessed with his absence as if the All Blacks' future lies fully in his hands. Mo'unga is a very good first five but will never rank up there with the likes of Dan Carter. Mo'unga enjoyed the benefits of playing behind the great Crusaders pack, which gives a first five the time and space to play expansive football. Let's not forget that the World Cup is still two years away and a lot can happen in that time. So can the All Blacks selectors stop obsessing over the loss of Mo'unga and get on with developing their local talent. Just watch some of the school First XV games and see the talent that is available, just waiting to be discovered. Jock MacVicar, Hauraki. Top marks NZ! Give tax breaks to the better-off. Cut funding for science. Sack civil servants. Remove environmental protections. Remove EV subsidies. Make it harder for disadvantaged people to vote. Deny public health advice. Promote drilling for oil and gas. Deny hand-ups to those needing help to achieve equality. Deny history. 10 out of 10 New Zealand! Bill Irwin, Nelson. Troubling trend for sports The article (August 9) on the termination of the Mountain Green Archery Club's lease of its base on Ōwairaka (Mt Albert) highlights a troubling trend in Auckland. As with speedway and Western Springs, council officials seem disconnected from the community, expecting volunteers to perform miracles while juggling jobs and personal lives. Fostering Olympic-level talent in sports like archery is becoming harder. Motorsport and speedway — once breeding grounds for champions such as Bruce McLaren and Liam Lawson — are being pushed out, possibly accessible only to the wealthy. Even golf and horse racing clubs face pressure to relocate or restructure. Meanwhile, football codes thrive with ample fields and support, producing future Warriors, All Blacks and All Whites. There's nothing wrong with football — but other sports risk drifting further from reach, even for school-aged kids. We're at risk of becoming a football-and-beer nation, losing the diversity that makes our sporting culture rich. The council should start listening and advocate for all sports, the community and the volunteers who keep them alive. John Riddell, Hobsonville. Green shoots? The idea of the Green Party leading the next (or any) Government is political positioning rather than political reality. Chlöe Swarbrick is right that most New Zealanders lament politics. Most New Zealanders also seem to have little enthusiasm for the kind of 'progressive' and 'transformational change' the Greens advocate. The revolution is unlikely to take place in 2026. Brendan Jarvis, Wellington. Make a climate stand George Williams (August 11) rejects the opinion of Emma Mackintosh (August 8) that we should be actively reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and says that a strong economy is more important. He is correct that our total emissions are but a drop in the bucket on a global scale, but does this give us the right to carry on our high per capita fossil fuel use? New Zealand has led the world in the past and we could make a stand now, at an individual and a government level to reduce our emissions. Our grandchildren will be living in a very unpleasant world. I hope they can look back with pride at our actions today. Linda McGrogan, Taupō.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
50 years ago: Remembering Sir John Walker's world record mile
By Barry Guy of RNZ It was 50 years ago today that Sir John Walker achieved one of the great moments in New Zealand athletics. On 12 August 1975 Walker broke the world record for the mile. Twenty-three-year-old Walker lined up at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden with the aim of breaking the record and also wanting to go under three minutes and 50 seconds. Tanzanian Filbert Bayi, Walker's great rival from the 1974 Commonwealth Games, had set a new mark of 3:51.0 in May 1975. Bayi had beaten Walker for gold in the 1500m final at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, breaking that world record along the way. Walker's coach Arch Jelley said Walker went to Europe in 1975 in great form. "We thought he would do it," Jelley told RNZ. "He was in very good shape. I always thought he was capable of doing it and on that day in Gothenburg if he'd been paced he would have done very much faster." Walker had to do it all himself over the latter part of the race as he was cheered on by a vocal crowd who new a world best time was on the cards. "I knew as soon as I crossed the line, the reaction from the crowd that I had broken the world record, but I didn't know that I had run under 3:50," Walker said some years later. "It wasn't until a watch was thrust under my face that I realised I'd broken 3:50." He didn't just break the record, he smashed it taking 1.6 seconds off the time set by Bayi a month earlier. His time of 3:49.4 was exactly 10 seconds faster than Roger Bannister did 21 years earlier when he became the first person to break the four minute barrier for the mile. His achievement followed the likes of fellow New Zealand greats Jack Lovelock, Yvette Williams, Marise Chamberlain and Sir Peter Snell to have broken world records. Coach Jelley said getting an early phone call at his home in Auckland with the news that Walker had broken the record was something he would never forget. "Absolutely because when I woke up on August the 13th it was my birthday (53rd birthday) and John had just broken the world record, so it was a very good birthday present." The achievement shot Walker into stardom, however at the time he didn't realise the significance of it. "It wasn't until I got back to the hotel room when all the adulation had died down, the victory laps, the kisses, the flowers the waving to the crowd had gone, it wasn't until I got back to the hotel room and settled down with a couple of beers that the phone started ringing from all over the world, then I realised what I'd done." Sir John Walker went on to win the Olympic gold in 1976, while his mile record stood until 1979 when it was lowered by Sebastian Coe. Walker now lives with Parkinson's disease.
