MASTERS GAMES
All on for young and old
LUCY Seager is a master but she is only 18.
The Melbourne native is the youngest competitor at the
New Zealand Masters Games, which start today in Dunedin.
Seager may only be 18 but not every sport at the Games has a strict age limit restricting competitors to those who have grey hairs starting to arrive.
Some sports such as gymnastics and ice skating are for the young at heart so doing the sport at an older age is something of a rarity.
Seager just finished school last year and has been skating for five years.
Her family had heard of the Masters event and, although it may seem odd to be known as a Masters Games competitor, she is looking forward to it.
‘‘That is interesting but there are a few young people doing it and even my coach is going to have a go at it,’’ she said.
‘‘I don’t feel old but we are all a band of sisters, really. Everyone looking after each other and having a lot of fun.
‘‘A lot of competitions that you are in, you cannot compete unless you are a lot older. So I want to line up in as many competitions as I can.’’
She has a competition back in Australia next week. Coming from an Australian summer, where the temperatures are extreme, she is enjoying the cooler climes of Dunedin.
Melbourne has three ice rinks so there is plenty of room to train.
She said the rink in
Dunedin was very good and she had carried out a couple of training runs already.
Seager said she first got into ice skating when she went to a rink with her friend when she was 13. She liked it so much, she decided to have a go at it properly and it was now taking over her life.
The Dunedin Ice Stadium will be a busy place over the next nine days of the Games.
Ice skating will take place this weekend while curling, featuring plenty of veterans, takes centre stage on Monday and Tuesday.
Ice hockey is then scheduled to start on Wednesday to go for four days.