Local upcoming sport stars Zoe Hobbs (athletics) and Ryan Cooper (swimming) are two of 12 athletes accepted on Sport Taranaki's 2013 Future Champions programme, launched last week.
The pair have an impressive list of achievements. Recent achievements for Inglewood 15-year-old Zoe is winning gold at the Australian youth olympics and gold at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletic Association meet in the U16 100m, 200m and long jump. On Thursday Zoe broke three intermediate girls records at the Taranaki secondary schools athletics championships in Inglewood, running the 100m in 12.35sec (the previous record, set in 1978, was 12.4sec), the 200m in 25.31sec (previously 25.33sec, which she set in 2012) and in the long jump reaching 5.54m (previously 5.46m, set in 2002). Zoe is a student at New Plymouth Girls High.
Ryan, 16, a student at Stratford High, has among other triumphs, placed fourth at the Australia swimming champs in the 200m backstroke (15 years), third in the 200m backstroke at the Victoria champs and first in the 200m backstroke at the New Zealand championship. Ryan is this week competing in Auckland in the open national tournament meet and on returning will compete in the Australian age group competition.
The Sport Taranaki Talent ID programme recognises talented teens in Taranaki and offers support for their development through mentoring, personal development sessions and a comprehensive workshop calendar. These athletes have access to the same experts that work with New Zealand's sporting elite.