PLEASE HELP OUR NZ JUNIOR SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING TEAM TO COMPETE AGAINST THE WORLD – VIRTUALLY!

HOT OFF THE PRESS! Artistic Swimming New Zealand would love your help to send the NZ Junior Team to compete virtually in the US Artistic Swimming Junior & Youth International Open in August. Two years ago these 11 athletes and 2 coaches started training to compete in the FINA Junior World Championships which were scheduled for late August. Due to COVID this was sadly cancelled 6 weeks ago which was soul-destroying for these athletes who had worked to achieve this dream for so long. But – there was a silver lining – US Artistic Swimming stepped in to create the opportunity for teams who can’t travel (like us) to compete virtually against the world in this US-based competition.

It's been a long and dedicated journey for these athletes aged from 14-17 – for the last two years they have travelled four times a year giving up their school holidays for training camps, spending more than 50 days a year together - as well as the regular training at club level during the school term. Competing virtually sounds simple – but it still means we have to send them all to Dunedin for one last training and to film the two routines. They will compete after hours when the pool is closed, so we can get the perfect video to send away for judging. This isn’t a cheap exercise by the time you pay for accommodation and meals, pool hire, videographer etc, the total cost comes to well over $20,000 for 15 people including the coaches and manager. We would love your help to get our athletes there. We’ve set a target of $5,000 which will be enough to cover most of the accommodation – but if we get more we will use it to offset other costs.

Thank you for taking the time to read this – and if you donate, for helping to make these girls dreams come true. As a 98% parent-funded sport, we know this help would be truly welcomed. Artistic Swimming NZ will match donations $ for $ up to $3,000.

You can see just how much this means to them in their own words:

“The opportunity to represent my country and wear the Silver Fern on my swimsuit and cap has been a dream of mine since I started synchronised swimming at the age of 7. While competing virtually is not quite the same as being there, it will be wonderful to have the chance to show what we’ve been working on to international judges and see where we sit in the world. We all dream of one day going to the Olympics, and to be filming our routines around the same time as our idols are competing there makes it even more special.” - Sophie Black

“As a solo parent, raising the funds to keep my daughters’ dreams alive in the sport she loves is sometimes a challenge – but not one that I would ever complain about. Sport gives so many opportunities to our children – keeping them focused, teaching them life skills that will be with them always, and fostering teamwork and resilience. I will make this happen for her, whatever it takes, but I would love it if we were able to get some help from givealittle followers along the way. I can’t tell you how much this would mean for all of us as parents.” – Roanna Gornall