Taking the plunge
16 Oct 2019
Year 11 student and keen swimmer James Currie says representing New Zealand at the 2019 State Teams Championships in Australia, for boys and girls aged 13–17 years, has given him a greater insight into the demands of high performance swimming and whetted his appetite for more.
“It was my first international swim meet and a very team oriented event. It wasn’t so much about individual placings, but more about getting points for your whole team – a collective rather than an individual effort.”
Swimming in the Boys 14–15 grade in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, the 200m backstroke, and taking the breaststroke leg in the 4x100m medley relay, James thrived on the challenge.
“Everything focused on swimming, but there was lots of camaraderie and lots of fun – and being surrounded by really really fast people pushed me to get faster times, inspiring me to work harder and want more.”
James’s best individual result was 8th in the 200m breaststroke and 4th in the relay, and the New Zealand team as a whole came 4th overall. The team had a few days training on the Gold Coast prior to the competition, which was held in Canberra from Friday 4–Sunday 6 October.
