Budding biologists are going for gold

WINNING EFFORT: Macleans College students Benjamin Bai, left, and Richard Chou have been chosen to represent New Zealand at the International Biology Olympiad in Taiwan.

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Studying hard has paid off for Benjamin Bai and Richard Chou.

The Macleans College students jet off to Taiwan to represent New Zealand at the 22nd International Biology Olympiad in July.

They will be part of a team of four New Zealand students at the competition.

The pair took part in a gruelling eight-day training and selection camp before being chosen for the team.

"We took the entrance exam to get into the tutorials last year," Benjamin says. "There was another selection exam to get into the camp, another two exams at the camp and finally the best were chosen to be on the team."

Nineteen secondary school students from throughout New Zealand attended the camp to receive hours of tutoring for the exams.

"The practical tutorials were three or four-hour sessions and there were two a day," Benjamin says.

The boys are expecting stiff competition from a number of countries.

"China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United States are our biggest competitors," Richard says. "Taiwan got four golds last year and the USA got three. This year we're going for gold."

- © Fairfax NZ News