Division II 2019

A big week for our swimmers who attended in Dunedin this year.

Taylor, Courtney, Liz, Tamsin, Blake

Courtney (17) swam a good 50 back, bronze medal in 50m breast, 4th in 200m IM, 2nd in 400IM

Blake (15) swam to 4th in his 50 Free finals capping off a remarkable week and his first season of competitive swimming. He finalled 6th in 50 Back, 7th 100 Back, 7th 100 Free, and a had a good PB in his 100 IM.

Tamsin (14) had a fantastic start to Divs with PBs in her 100 Breast (14th) and 100 IM. 9th placing for both 50 Breast and 200 Breast with good PB's (1st reserve for finals) and finished the week with a 50 free.

Taylor (14) PB'd both her 100 Free and 50 Fly finishing 12th and 19th respectively, and swam a solid 50 free.

Coach Cam wins Gold again - Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships.

NORTHERN ADVOCATE

Northland's Cam Leslie wins another para swimming gold

15 Aug, 2018 8:30am

3 minutes to read

Northland's double Paralympic swimming gold medallist Cam Leslie has added to his collection by winning gold in the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships.

It was almost straight out of the wheelchair and into the pool for Whangārei double Paralympic swimming gold medallist Cam Leslie, but it still didn't stop him collecting another gold medal.

Leslie won gold in the men's 150m individual medley at the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in Cairns, Australia, on Monday night, the last night of the championship.

Leslie, who also holds the world record for the event, only joined the NZ para team 48 hours before the race after competing for the Wheel Blacks at the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Sydney.

But the switch from murderball, as wheelchair rugby is affectionately known, to the pool didn't phase the experienced campaigner.

"I swam the target time we had set prior to the championships so got to be happy with that. Still a few things I could sharpen up on,'' he said.

''The transition from wheelchair rugby to para swimming has worked really well and my body has performed well. Hats off to the High Performance Sport New Zealand support crew who helped me get there."

Leslie swam an aggressive heat in the morning and took a commanding lead, however in the final it was a little closer in the breaststroke leg.

"I have always come home strong in the medley race so I was not too worried about being out-touched at the 100m mark," he said.

Leslie's win saw the New Zealand para swimming team better the record-breaking performance at the same event four years ago. With a total medal tally of 14 this games the team bettered the record-breaking medal haul at the 2014 Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships of 13 medals with just over two years to go until the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Sophie Pascoe won a gold and silver medal on Monday night taking her overall medal tally for the championships to three gold and two sliver.

"I'm pretty pleased with this meet and there is a lot to take away and put into training when we get home. Considering the head wind tonight I'm happy with the swims. The atmosphere has really lifted tonight and we all finished on a good high. The New Zealand team can all be proud of our races and go home with lots to work on going into the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics," Pascoe said.

Para swimming programme manager Graeme Maw said it was a solid effort at the Championships as the team leave with 14 medals

''Cameron Leslie came in from the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships, settling in quickly and getting on with the business to win a gold medal in his best time since the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.''

Div II 2018

Cam, Hayden, Lucy, Cortney, Kaina Courtney and her second silver.

Only 4 of the 12 WASC swimmers who qualified for Divs went this year. However, this small group, led by Cam in his first coaching season, finished 50th out of 90 clubs who attended.

Congratulations to Courtney who swum 8 events, made 7 finals resulting in 7 PBs, 6 top 4 finishes, 2 Silver medals (200IM, 200Breast) 1 Bronze (100IM) and 12th place in her non-final event.

Kaina achieved 7th in 50 Free, 15th in 100 Free, 9th in 100 back, and swam 100IM and 50 back.

Lucy swam a solid 50 breast for 12th, had a fantastic 7sec PB in 200IM and PB'd her 100 breast.

Hayden had a 2 sec PB in 100 IM and swam a good 50 breast.

Altitude Training

Image may contain: 6 people, people smiling

ACTIV8 NORTHLAND

INSPIRATION

"When life throws you lemons, make lemonade".

Looking at this group of swimmers you may see just your average athlete- but look a bit closer and you may see they all have a disability and represent NZ in Paralympics Swimming.

Cameron Leslie has been training with Activ8 most of 2018 and here he is with the NZ Swim Squad who have also done some sessions with us.

They are currently doing Altitude training in Flagstaff, Arizona USA- 7000 above sea level. Cams words:

"At 5000m you can feel the breathe rushing into your mouth, whereas at 7000m you have to actively breathe".

Training is hard as your body has to work extra hard to get the little oxygen there is to your lungs and muscles- this means when they come back to sea level they are going to be extra fit and extra fast!!

But as I looked at this photo I got this ping of inspiration and gratitude. These guys are so positive, they push themselves to the limits and they make the most of what they have. Which is what I don't think we do enough of. We are always wanting more- wanting to be something else, or striving for a better body.

We need to accept what we have more- and work with that. Be thankful for that, and love that! We are what we are so be thankful, love ourselves and make the most of it.

Life is good