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Whangaparāoa College student Zoe Pedersen made waves at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Champs in Romania, held last month, surpassing predictions and taking home gold in the women’s 50m butterfly.
Although the 18-year-old Manly resident was initially seeded fifth, she surged through in the final to take the gold by 0.03 seconds, beating Japan’s Mizuki Hirai and Denmark’s Martine Dambourg.
Zoe trains with the Coast Swim Club and has competed since she was nine. She credits her results to long training hours and the enjoyment she finds in improving with each session. Although she has usually competed in freestyle, more recently she has focused on butterfly.
She thanks Coast Swim Club coach John Gatfield, who has been a major part of her journey, she says. She is also grateful to Whangaparāoa College for flexibility with deadlines and class work.
Her next goals are selection for New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games team and the Pan-Pacific Championships.
She is currently seeking sponsorship to help cover the costs of training and travel, and welcomes enquiries from anyone interested in supporting her sporting journey at hilaryollie@gmail.com
