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Mangawhai Hills College Year 9 student Ryder Sax brought home a gold medal from the New Zealand Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships held at Lake Tikitapu in Rotorua last month.
Ryder won the boys 13-14 years division over 500 metres, and finished second in his age group in the 3.5km event.
A total of 74 students took part in the championships across three distances – 3.5km, 1km and 500 metres. The 3.5km distance had 47 students complete a lap of the lake, while 36 students completed the 1km distance and 20 students took on the shorter 500m race.
Mangawhai College finished among the top 10 schools out of the 51 participating.
Ryder, who is a Mangawhai junior lifesaver first came to the public’s attention last year when he swam 30 kilometres in Coastguard’s Big Swim fundraiser to support the fledgling Mangawhai Coastguard.
He follows a rigorous training programme, swimming four times a week at Silverdale as part of the development squad for Coast Swimming Club, under the guidance of coach Steven Ferguson. In addition to his training in Auckland, he also swims in Mangawhai, emphasising the importance of training in both the pool and open water.
“This was my first year taking part in secondary school competitions,” he says. “I naturally tend to gravitate towards longer distance swims and do well in those, but I have been working on some shorter distance events to challenge myself to be more explosive and fast. I was really happy with my times and results – it felt good.”
Ryder hopes to continue improving his performance and times, and his next goal is to qualify for the World Open Water Swimming Championships, which will be held in Budapest next year.
“I also want to swim at the New Zealand National Age Group Championships next year. This is the pinnacle of pool racing in NZ and has the toughest qualifying times.”
Beyond his constant training and preparation, Ryder also recognises the importance of family support in advancing his swimming career.
“I know I’m really fortunate to have two supportive parents who get me to all my training sessions (especially the early ones) and competitions around New Zealand. My whole family is actually very supportive. I have three younger siblings, and they are often seen cheering at swim competitions or playing poolside games when it’s not their turn to swim.”
