File picture of Matt Scott by Paul Rickard
CHASING the Olympic dream has a young Gisborne man swimming the length of 900 rugby fields each week in a bid to make it to Tokyo 2020.
Matthew Scott has been selected for the Swimming New Zealand Tokyo 2020 Squad.
The team is made up of 35 athletes who Swimming New Zealand believes have the potential for success at the Games.
“It’s cool. It's a stepping stone to becoming an Olympian. That’s the ultimate dream,” says Scott.
The former Campion College and Makauri School student has also been selected for Swimming NZ’s Pathway to Podium squad — a nationwide programme designed to support young, promising athletes on their way to a career in high performance sports.
Scott’s speciality is distance swimming, with his main focus being the 10km ocean race.
To achieve his Olympic dream, the Enterprise Cars Swim Team and Midway Surf Life Saving Club member has been training hard.
Alongside a part-time job at Aitkens Concrete Ltd and weekend surf lifesaving training, Scott spends up to 23 hours a week swimming.
While he says it can be hard hopping into the pool before anyone else and getting out after everyone, he’s committed to the goal.
“He’s a hard worker and a really good kid to work with,” says coach Matt Martin, who, along with father Gary Martin, has been working with Scott since he started swimming at the club nine years ago.
Big learning curveAlthough he has clocked up many hours in the water, distance swimming is a big learning curve, says Matt Martin.
“He definitely has potential but at the moment he’s pretty tired after finishing off two big 80 and 90-kilometre weeks.”
Improvement will take a while to reveal itself but he has a lot of time to perfect his style, says Martin.
“In the overall picture of open water swimming he’s still just a pup. A lot of the guys competing overseas are in their thirties.”
While indoor training sessions are important, Scott is keen to get into the ocean for some international competition.
“I need to gain more experience and as there is only one 10km event in New Zealand, the New Zealand Open Water Champs, I will need to travel overseas to compete,” says Scott.
To this end the 18-year-old will race in two international ocean swims this year — the Oceania Swimming Championships in Fiji in June and the FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in The Netherlands in July.
Scott is also a member of the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving team to compete in the Sanyo International Lifesaving Cup in Japan in July.
All three events are athlete-funded, meaning Scott needs to raise the money for his flights, accommodation and entry fees.
While parental support, sausage sizzles and raffles have helped Scott reach previous events, he hopes to raise money for these events through an online crowdfunding platform.
“This year the costs are going to be huge and I would appreciate any help I can get.”
His crowdfunding page, on the iSport Foundation’s website, has a target of $5000.
Scott will be chasing a top-five finish at the Oceania champs and a top 12 placing at the world junior open champs, with selection for Tokyo 2020 being his long-term target.