From the Director of High Performance
Kia ora tātou,
Last week marked 100 Days to Go until the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics. HPSNZ Chair Raewyn Lovett and I had the privilege of joining athletes and some colleagues from the NZOC and partner sports at a dawn ceremony hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei on the Auckland waterfront to celebrate the milestone.
The event featured a ceremonial handover of the traditional kākahu (feathered cloak) worn by the New Zealand Team flag bearers at Olympic Games, from Winter Olympics Chef de Mission Marty Toomey to Nigel Avery (pictured above), who will lead the NZ Team in Paris as Summer Olympics Chef de Mission. The warm welcome from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and reflections from both Chefs de Mission were a reminder of the unique strengths that the silver fern and the concept of manaakitanga bring to the NZ Team and contribute to our competitive edge.
Meanwhile we are seeing athletes continue to put their hands up for NZ Team selection for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games with compelling performances in national championships here in Aotearoa and in international events.
Now is crunch time for selections – a tense time for athletes and all those involved in their Olympic and Paralympic campaigns. It will be a time of celebration for some and immense disappointment for others. Whatever the outcome for athletes chasing selection, our people will be there to support them.
With Paris now clearly on the near horizon, in this HPSNZ Update we look at one aspect of what will happen behind the scenes in the NZ Olympic team with three HPSNZ practitioners who will make up the NZOC’s Preparation and Recovery Team in Paris. They’ve already been busy putting together a shipping container full of equipment, snack packs and other essentials to support Kiwi athletes in France.
We also hear from some other key members of the team behind the Women’s Team Pursuit cycling squad on what is going into their Paris campaign. And 2004 Olympian and current HPSNZ Performance Life Coach Hannah McLean provides her perspective on the Olympic experience and some tips for Kiwi athletes heading to Paris.
Finally a huge congratulations to Paralympian cyclist Nicole Murray for making the shortlist for World Sportsperson with a Disability and representing New Zealand at this week’s Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid. A tremendous achievement.
Ngā mihi nui
Steve
Preparation and Recovery team gearing up for Paris Olympics
A highly experienced behind-the-scenes team is deep into the preparation phase for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The three strong team of HPSNZers is led by Physiologist Anna Skipper whose experience at pinnacle events includes Preparation and Recovery lead at Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as well as a support role at Gold Coast 2018. Supporting Anna is the vastly experienced Nutritionist Christel Dunshea-Mooij who will be working at her fourth Olympic Games as well as at Birmingham 2022, and Strength & Conditioning specialist Simon Chatterton who, like Anna, was on the Preparation and Recovery team in Birmingham and Tokyo.
While the team are HPSNZ practitioners, they are seconded to the NZOC to provide preparation and recovery support for athletes attending the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The team’s role has three distinct phases – planning and preparation including packing supplies and equipment for the Games, set up and delivery on the ground and reporting and unpacking.
Follow @insidehpsportnz on TikTok
Our TikTok channel @insideshpsportnz is now live! If you’re a fan of TikTok, you can tune into content created about HP athletes and the HP team behind the team showcasing general fun stuff, celebrations, tips and tricks captured in their daily training and working environments.
If you enjoy the content, share with your social media network and help us grow the audience. It’s all about engaging more Kiwis in high performance sport so we can all be part of the journey, and be inspired by our Olympic and Paralympics athletes.
A big thank you to all the athletes, coaches, support staff and NSOs who have worked with us on the content so far.
Olympic and Paralympic Perspectives: Hannah McLean
Twenty years after her Olympic experience in Athens, backstroke swimmer Hannah McLean shares her insights and memories as our sixth featured former Olympian or Paralympian.
A long-held dream to compete at an Olympics was realised for Hannah in 2004 after she missed out on qualifying for Sydney in 2000.
For the past seven years, her experiences as an Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer have helped shape her career journey and passion for supporting our athletes of today and the future.
Paris bound coaches feature in final Kia Manawanui hosting
While their eyes are firmly fixed on the build up to Paris for their athletes, two coaches on HPSNZ’s Kia Manawanui programme had to turn their attention to hosting the group at the fifth and final hosting session this month.
National speed climbing coach Rob Moore and athletics track coach James Mortimer, along with diving coach James Hardaker, put their respective athletes through their paces in the cross sport practical learning part of Kia Manawanui which has proved incredibly popular and beneficial.
Cycling Women’s Team Pursuit riders leaving no stone unturned for Paris – Part 2
In the second part of our look at the Team Behind the Team supporting our Cycling Women’s Team Pursuit riders’ quest for a medal in Paris, we spoke with two HPSNZ APS members, Performance Analyst Sam Bremer and Nutritionist Katie Schofield about their roles in the Paris build up.
Te Hāpaitanga in the news
The New Zealand Herald recently featured HPSNZ’s Te Hāpaitanga coaching programme in print and online in a five-part series.
Featuring a variety of voices, including Te Hāpaitanga participants, NSOs and HPSNZ, the series focussed on the strides the programme is making to empower women and reshape the sports coaching landscape in New Zealand.
Links to the stories:
Part 1 – Women breaking boundaries and reshaping sports leadership in New Zealand
Part 2 – Te Hāpaitanga empowering women in high performance coaching
Part 3 – Te Hāpaitanga’s impact on empowering female coaches in New Zealand sports
Part 4 – Te Hāpaitanga’s role in advancing women in high performance coaching
Part 5 – Te Hāpaitanga revolutionising coaching in New Zealand with female empowerment
The online series also included HPSNZ’s 8-minute Te Hāpaitanga video.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Pathway athletes gaining national success
Almost a year since its inception, athletes at the Hawke’s Bay HPSNZ Performance pod are reaping the rewards with some national successes. They are Oscar Jarvis, K1 250m Secondary School Champs winner, Lezhi Zhu selected for his first New Zealand badminton senior appearance at the Oceanias and Rylan Noome selected for the 200m at the Oceanias in Fiji.
A key factor in the programme’s success, according to Head of Performance Pathways Tracey Paterson is the appointment of Angus Warwicker-Le Breton, previously a Strength and Conditioning coach with international experience, as the pod lead.
The woman helping Goldmine help Kiwis chase medals
Goldmine mechanical engineer and sole female staff member Bex Lilley is “busting down walls to invent new ways of helping Kiwi athletes win more Olympic and Paralympic medals”.
Bex, who has been a member of the HPSNZ Goldmine team for 12 months shared her story with Newsroom journalist, Suzanne McFadden.
PM’s Scholarship internship placements underway
Four of the current cohort of HPSNZ’s Prime Minister’s Scholarship interns have secured placements in organisations ranging from data analytics and architecture to health care and Māori development.
Triathlete Hannah Knighton has started a placement with Research, Evaluation and Analytics consultancy Scarlatti, rower Catherine Layburn will join private hospital Mercy Ascot, netballer Kimiroa Poi has begun her internship with Te Rūnanga o Ngā Maata Waka (Urban Māori Authority for Te Waipounamu/South Island) and sailor Greta Pilkington will join architect firm Jasmax.
Hannah Knighton was the first of the cohort to start her placement and she and her employer, Karen Mitchelmore of Scarlatti share their initial thoughts on the internship programme.
Timing is everything for WHPS Residency Experience participant
The stars seemed to align for Athletics NZ Women in High Performance Sports Residency Experience participant Mariah Ririnui.
Joining the Residency Experience programme in August 2023 coincided with the arrival of a new CEO at Athletics NZ and the establishment of HPSNZ’s Wellbeing community of practice, both of which have been significant for Mariah in her role as Performance, Environments and Culture Manager at the NSO.
