Sydney Johnson | Sport

My name is Sydney Johnson and I’m a keen rower. I’m 17 years old turning 18 in October, and I live in the mighty Waikato. For all of my secondary schooling I have taken part in rowing and enjoyed every minute of it! The competition, athletes and friends involved and being surrounded by the sport makes it an awesome environment for successful performance as well as fun.

I spent my first three years of rowing at St Peter’s School Cambridge on development, and then in my fourth and final year I achieved my main results. Amongst other things I was the first girl from St Peter’s School to ever win the North Island Under 18 Girls Single Sculls, and I also managed to follow some other great school alumni on to the New Zealand Junior team when I was selected for the Junior Womens Double Sculls to compete in the 2017 Junior World Rowing Championships in Lithuania.

The Junior Team was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I met people that I now call my family and I don’t think I will ever loose the bonds I have with them. Unfortunately due to a random virus my championships was not as successful as my crew and I aimed for, although we did place 18th in the world and we are proud we managed to make it that far with everything that had happened! Nonetheless, it was an experience of a lifetime and I am so grateful to all the support that allowed me to live a journey of a lifetime!