Pankhurst's hard work and dedication pays off

NICOLE GOURLEY/The Southland Times

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE: Talented Southland swimmer Lisa Pankhurst will head to Samoa on Friday to compete in the Oceania Championships.

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Dedicated swimmer Lisa Pankhurst, 20, is about to climb the next flight of stairs in her progression up the swimming ranks.

The Southern Institute of Technology sport and recreation student is just a matter of days away from leaving Invercargill bound for Samoa where she will have the most important swimming date of her career.

For over a decade Pankhurst has been following the blackline at the bottom of Invercargill's Splash Palace swimming pool.

All that hard work is about to pay off when she represents New Zealand at the Oceania Championships in Apia.

It will be the first time she wears the silver fern in swimming circles but will add to an impressive sporting CV with Pankhurst already having represented New Zealand in water polo at under-16 level.

With New Zealand's Commonwealth Games swim team in Europe competing at the moment, New Zealand will send a development team to Samoa opening up a chance for the likes of Pankhurst to put their best foot forward.

For Pankhurst the selection is a reward for her immense dedication to her chosen sport, but she hopes it is just another step on her way to her own spot at a Commonwealth or Olympics Games – not the pinnacle of career.

"There are bigger goals on the horizon but you've got to start somewhere and (the Oceania) is a big step for me," Pankhurst told The Southland Times yesterday.

Pankhurst has made huge strides with her swimming during the past year, which included her banking her first medal at a national open meet, when she won bronze in the national spring opens in Christchurch late last year.

Pankhurst will leave Invercargill on Friday bound for Apia with the four-day meet starting on Sunday.

Following her time competing the Southlander will spend a week taking a look at the sights of Samoa.

But Pankhurst quickly pointed out the trip was far from a holiday.

"There won't be any downtime for me until the job is done," she stressed.

Meanwhile Pankhurst's Southland training buddy Natalie Wiegersma has showed encouraging signs during her trip to France and Spain to compete in international meets.

Wiegersma is part of the New Zealand team competing in Europe as part of the buildup to the Commonwealth Games in October.

In Barcelona last week as part of the Mare Nostrum series Wiegersma swum a 4min 45second 400m individual medley to finish 7th in a top quality international field.

Coach Jeremy Duncan said it was her fastest ever time when competing without a training break in the leadup to an event.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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