Brea McDonald | Sport

Born in Whakatane, I moved to Cambridge before primary school and spent all my school years, apart from this year, attending local Cambridge schools. This year I am fortunate enough to attend St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton.

I have been involved in school rowing for three full seasons now. The reason I get through these long and hard sessions of nine months a year trainings, ten times a week, is this quote: “It’s not over until it’s over.” In 2016 at the Aims Games tournament an elderly sportsman from a retirement home wrote down this quote and gave it to my netball team before one of our toughest games. I think about this quote every time I am in a rowing race. It has stuck with me for four years now and will forever. Another quote that resonates with me is, ‘she believed she could, so she did.’ I believe in myself. This gets me through life’s challenges.

I am more of a sports person than academic. I have been gifted with dyslexia which makes me excel in my sporting ability and pushes me to work harder in academics. At school, I take engineering which I love with a passion! I am the only girl in my class and the hands-on workshop experience of making objects such as go-karts and kite buggies to play around on is rewarding in itself. Feedback I regularly receive from my teachers’ say that I am positive no matter how hard the class work is.

Ever since I could walk I have been involved in many different types of sports ranging from athletics, dance, equestrian, swimming and many more. In my spare time, when I’m not rowing or playing netball, I love to surf and mountain bike with my family.