Despite it being the off season for triathlon, up and coming competitor Neveah Reddy said her support network and coaches inspire her to keep pushing to be the best she can be.

Neveah (17) recently competed at the South Island Secondary School Championships for Open Water swimming in Akaroa.

She finished the 5km swim in second place in the female 16-19 age group, was second female secondary school student and third female overall, including adults.

Neveah said she was proud of her results because it was a tough race in rough conditions.

 “I managed to push through and achieve a great result. This was my first time racing the 5km event in the ocean rather than a lake.” 

Her current focus is on base fitness, so along with school work she has two netball trainings a week, three sessions in the gym, including one with her personal trainer and coach Teresa Noble, and three sessions in the pool with her coaches.

“I have just gotten a new bike trainer so I am looking forward to using that to help build up my base fitness.

"I like to go out for runs and mountain bike [rides] when possible.

“I am incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful support network around me, I would like to thank my sponsors . . . [and] my family for everything they do to support me, and my coaches Erika and Ashleigh (swimming), NRG’s Teresa and Sarah and Amiee (netball) for their time and effort they put into training me.” 

Other event highlights for Neveah are racing in The WILD Mountain Run in Arrowtown and competing at the New Zealand Championships for Open Water Swimming in Taupo. 

The next events she is working towards are the South Island Secondary School Netball tournament, the Queenstown Half Marathon, The Wild V1600 (a vertical climb of 1600m over 30km), and the Race Tekapo 16km trail run. 

Nevaeh said she does not have one favourite sport as they are all different and hard to compare.

“I got into sports by trying out local events and seeing if I enjoyed them, I have continued them ever since.”

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