April Club Highlights

6 May 2022

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus ut est id tellus dapibus finibus non in ex. Fusce sit amet nulla est. Suspendisse et orci dapibus,

Whether it was at home, at training or at some of the first competitions of the year, April was full of news and great moments from our clubs!

The Howick-Pakuranga powerlifting team were thrilled to have their first training of 2022 in April after a long time without seeing each other due to lockdowns.

Left: Coaches Polly Websdell, Agnes Wilson, Athletes Richard Langford, James Wilson, Patrick Holmes and Team Manager Steve Wilson at their first training in 2022.

Athlete Richard says he’s glad to be back training and missed being with the team.

“I feel very happy to be back at the gym again I was missing it very badly. I missed seeing everyone and being able to be part of a group, I feel happy I can work towards a goal again.”

———–

The Howick-Pakuranga athletics team also enjoyed being able to work on their fitness, with athletes saying they were happy to be back to regular trainings.

Howick-Pakuranga athletes are back training and improving their athletics skills.

Athletics Coach Claire Lingman is pleased to see them back saying “It’s good to see them all enjoying themselves, all are doing extra training during the week and looking forward to the National Summer Games.“

———–

Special Olympics Canterbury set their athletes and coaches a challenge to record how many steps they took over April and to increase their steps week by week leading to impressive results.

Their athlete committee came up with the idea over a Zoom call where it was discussed as a way to encourage athletes to stay active and work on their fitness while they were unable to train in their sports.

As the weeks went on more and more athletes and coaches took up the challenge and club administrator Helen Mitchell says they’ve all shown incredible improvement.

“The steps they are taking each week are improving by 75%, as I am sure, is their wellbeing and fitness. It was also a good way to walk off their Easter eggs after the holiday. Some of the participants have also benefited from weight loss.”

———–

On April 4 athletes Joshua Vegar and Tate Pichon swam an impressive 33km across Lake Taupō to raise almost $3000 to help fellow North Harbour and Waitakere athletes attend the National Summer Games in Hamilton.

In the process, Tate broke the record for the west-east crossing, climbing out of the water after 10 hours and 26 minutes, followed 23 minutes later by Joshua.

Last Saturday, 30 April, they attended an evening with other ocean swimmers where they gave a speech and received medals for their epic swim. Ka pai Josh and Tate on your great achievement!

Joshua (left) and Tate (right) receiving their medals for their Taupō swim with Claire Hobson (middle)

So many great highlights and events happened in April that we can’t mention them all, but below are some great snapshots from recent competitions and trainings! Thanks to all the volunteers and athletes for taking these photos!

West Coast athletes after their first swimming event of 2022