Wins for record-breaking rising swim star

A hard training session at the pool is one of life’s joys for a young Manawatu swimmer who has scooped five national gold medals in her age group.

Year 10 Freyberg College pupil Paris Cutler swims, plays basketball and netball, and keeps up with cross training. A normal week will include seven swim training sessions – two followed by landbased training, school, homework and in-season winter sport practices and games.

The hard work is clearly paying off. At the March national longcourse age group championships, Cutler won the 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800-metre freestyle events for the 14-year-age group.

She also scooped bronze in the 400m individual medley, broke the long course Manawatu record for both 50 and 100m freestyle and came close to the record for 200m freestyle.

‘‘It made me feel pretty motivated. It was pretty cool to win all of those,’’ she said.

‘‘I started off swimming for fun, but then I realised I have potential and that inspired me to work hard.

‘‘It’s good for my health and it’s a whole lot of fun, and it’s good having so many opportunities.’’

She said her drive to spend time in the pool helped her stay motivated to get down to school work.

‘‘I have to keep my grades up, so I just go and do it. I try to timemanage everything.’’

Last year, Cutler also competed at the two Australian age group champs and says it has pushed her to aim for an even higher level. Right now, she’s concentrating on her short course game, especially speeding up her turns so she’s ready for the New Zealand short course championships in Auckland in October.

Her performance has already qualified her for selection for the national development team, for her second year. This gives her extra training in nutrition, motivation, teamwork and technique, which she enjoys.

‘‘It means we’ll have some of the top coaches, so they can help us to fix our techniques.

‘‘I can see how all the other swimmers are going and see if I can change my strokes.’’

Paris hopes one day to work in a career connected to sport. Her next goal is to meet qualifying times for the August 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo.