Whangārei Paralympic legend, and multiple world record holder, Cam Leslie loved his time at Police College as Patron of Wing 389 - the latest 55 new police recruits.
Whangārei Paralympic legend, and multiple world record holder, Cam Leslie loved his time at Police College as Patron of Wing 389 - the latest 55 new police recruits.
As an experienced elite athlete, who’s competed in his sports’ biggest international stages - including multiple gold medals and world records - Whangārei Paralympic legend Cam Leslie knows all about pressure.
But he admits that even he got a little bit nervous at the thoughts ofhis latest gig - Patron of Wing 389, the group of 55 new officer who graduated from police training college in Wellington earlier this month.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, members of the police executive and wing patron Leslie (Ngāpuhi), MNZM, congratulated the 55 graduating constables from Wing 389. Families and friends watched as the new officers marched out at Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua.
Leslie said it was an honour to be asked to be a Wing Patron.
“It was definitely a surprise to be asked. But something that sounded cool to be involved with and a way to be part of a group of recruits’ journey as they go through something which will be memorable for them,” Leslie, who was in Thailand, recently, with the Wheel Blacks team, said.
While used to pressure through his many sporting achievements, he says this was different, and he had to approach it differently.
“For me, it was about recognising what the purpose was of a Wing Patron - what could I add to their journey at Police College from my small involvement. They were already going to do their training so from what I learned from their journey what could I add when I saw them next?
Some of the 55 new police officer who graduated from Police College on Thursday from Wing 389. Wing 389 Patron is Whangārei Paralympic legend Cam Leslie
“The way I saw it was what can I pull from my life experiences to be a positive contributor to their training. I reinforced multiple times about leaning into their support networks because the job isn’t all glamour, like being a high-performance athlete - people aren’t privy to the bad days and only really see the headlines or the drama.”
“What we are seeing when we meet someone is only the current state, there’s backstory, shadows, and a whole series of events to everyone as to why paths are crossing. Apparently, it’s unique to have a patron as young as me, so they got something quite different. Also, even more unique is to have a current athlete competing at their world championships during their Wing’s training.”
Leslie said he loved the experience at Police College and spending time with the new officers.
“I think in my position I was able to spend a few days with them and could really see the growth from day one. The Wing had become like a family, there were clearly visible bonds, and everyone seemed much more professional than the group I met on day one.”
Leslie has broken world records and won gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. He debuted for New Zealand in 2006, and after having spent most of his career as a medley swimmer, he switched to becoming a sprinter before the recent Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. At those Games, Cameron’s best finishes were two 4th placings where he missed the podium by 0.13 and 0.24 of a second.
He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 New Year’s Honours, for services to swimming. In wheelchair rugby, Leslie is known as a mid-point player. This means he carries the ball a lot and is one of the generals on court. Recently he competed in Adelaide for the Wheel Blacks against teams from all over the world.
Whangārei Paralympic legend, and multiple world record holder, Cam Leslie - Patron of Wing 389 - speaks to the latest 55 people to graduate from Police College. in Wellington on Thursday
Among some of his proudest achievements are helping the Wheel Blacks qualify for the 2020 Summer Paralympics, which he did not attend due to Covid and the birth of his second child, and being a finalist for the global sporting awards The Laureus Awards in 2023.
Leslie lives in Whangārei with his wife and three children while working for Swimming New Zealand as the disability and para swimming participation manager.
The new constables from Wing 390 started their duty this week and will continue their training on the job as probationary constables.
Auckland City will get one of the new officers, Counties Manukau 4, Waikato 6, Bay of Plenty 11, Eastern 5, Central 8, Wellington 6, Tasman 1, Canterbury 8 and Southern 5.
To put Leslie’s latest accolade into perspective, Wing 390’s graduation of new police officers was held in Auckland with the Wing Patron former Prime Minister Sir John Key. Six of the officers from that wing are coming to Northland.
