Mighty Meghan

Now she has made history by becoming the first New Zealander in a decade to make it to the finals of the junior world aerobics championships.

The 16-year-old Hobsonville resident was still injured when the Kiwi squad was chosen and sent the selectors a DVD of herself in action.

It did the trick and she was thrilled to join teammates on the flight to Russia in December.

"It was a real fight to get chosen because the selectors weren’t sure if my knee would be ready and didn’t know how I’d get on without much training. But eventually I made it and I felt a sense of achievement having overcome the injury."

The damage was done during a dancing competition in March.

"The tendon in my knee just tore," Meghan says.

"It was a stress injury from overuse and was bound to happen at some point. They didn’t think I’d be able to compete for the rest of the year and I didn’t want to come back too early and risk re-injuring it."

The Massey High student had to shuffle around on crutches for a month and was out of action for another four.

"After that it took me ages to get my fitness back and it was a long time before I was able to do my full routine."

Being confined to the couch was tough for the active teen.

Aerobics, gymnastics and dancing are all squeezed into her schedule and she loves to keep herself busy.

"It was really frustrating because you just want to get back into it but you know if you do you’ll never get completely better," she says.

There is still a high likelihood of the injury flaring up again.

Meghan has had problems with her knees for a number of years and gave up top-class gymnastics in 2006 to avoid the risk of serious damage.

Aerobics was the perfect alternative, because of her background in dance.

"Aerobics is pretty much a combination of the two," she says. "It puts the things that I enjoy most together. A lot of gymnasts move into aerobics after they retire."

Meghan credits the hard work put in with coach Meredith Donnelly for her rapid rise.

"She was heavily pregnant just before worlds but was still rolling round on the floor and doing press ups with me at training. She’s a real legend. The lead-up to the event was an intense time.

"It was basically just train, study, sleep, train, study, sleep," Meghan says. "But I love it and hate not being busy. If I stopped everything I’d go insane."