Selwyn Swimmer Speeds Ahead One of New Zealand’s up and coming young swimmers is now in training at the recently opened Selwyn Aquatic Centre in Rolleston. 13 year old Hannah Bates of Lincoln won a total of seven medals at the New Zealand Junior Swimming Championships in February. Hannah competed in all disciplines but achieved her best success in the 200 and 400 metre individual medleys and the 50, 100 and 200 metre freestyle races. She took home two gold, three silver and one bronze from the competition and was also a member of two Canterbury record breaking relay teams. Most recently, Hannah competed at the Wharenui Winter Olympics and was the overall winner for her age category of 13/14 years. Hannah dedicates around two and a half hours a day to swim training, spending an hour and a half in the pool plus dry land exercises and travelling time. Hannah trains at the Selwyn Aquatic Centre and also trains as part of the Canterbury silver swim squad about once a month at Jellie Park. Before the new Selwyn Aquatic Centre opened Hannah’s coach Ellie Sinclair used to train her in Christchurch, alongside Roly Crichton, one of New Zealand’s most respected swim coaches who trains multiple gold medallist Sophie Pascoe. Both Ellie and Roly now coach at the Selwyn Aquatic Centre so Hannah has been able to continue to be coached by them while training in Rolleston. Ellie says that Hannah’s success can be attributed to her hard work. “Competitive swimming is not just about turning up to train and completing the workout, it’s doing the workout to the best of your ability, always giving one hundred percent and staying focused. Hannah does this.” Ellie says that Hannah shows a lot of potential at such a young age. “She is self-driven and that’s so important to be successful. You have to really want it yourself and really go for it.” Looking to the future, Hannah says her goal is to swim at the Commonwealth Games and Olympics for New Zealand. Hannah says it is great to be able to swim at the new Selwyn Aquatic Centre. “It’s nice and clean and new and I love relaxing in the spa pool.” “Swimming is one of my favourite things. It’s a skill that once you have you have for life,” she says. “Whenever I’m not feeling so good and I swim I always feel much better afterwards. It makes me feel happy.” Competitive swimming involves a lot of travel, dedication and motivation, and Hannah and her family are a good example of the commitment required in this sport. Hannah is looking for a local business to sponsor her to help meet the costs associated with competitive swimming and training.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 23:45:44 +0000
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