College sport: Gina flies in Grandma's fast lane

Gina Galloway added 10 gold and two silver medals to her collection at the junior national champs. Photo / Nicola Topping

Dio schoolgirl keeps feet on ground but eye on Olympics as she emulates relative's success in the pool.

More than half a century after her grandmother swam at an Olympic Games, Gina Galloway has her sights set on following suit.

It is not hard to see why an 11-year-old would have such lofty goals.

The Diocesan School youngster is already turning heads but her parents and coach are determined she should keep her feet firmly on the ground.

At the recent Junior National Championships, she added 10 gold and two silver medals to an already bulging collection, with 10 of those 12 medals claimed in individual events over a variety of stokes. But, as Gina admitted, backstroke is her favourite.

No surprise there, after all, her grandmother, as Ngaire Lane, swam in the heats and semifinals of the 100m backstroke at the 1948 London Olympic Games where she was the only woman in the New Zealand team, which included top athletes Harold Nelson, Doug Harris and John "Dutch" Holland.

Gina, the second-to-youngest of the 12 grandchildren, has been swimming since she was 4, and has given away netball to concentrate on it - but not at the expense of all else.

Swimming out of the King's Swim Club based at Kings School in Remuera, Gina is one of about 100 children under the watchful eye of coach Sam Caradus who, like her parents, insists she leads a balanced life.

"The key for me is that our young swimmers are happy in what they are doing," said Caradus.

"I have been coaching Gina for three years and I want her to keep enjoying it. At this age we are buying into the process, not the outcome, and she has a good understanding of what we are trying to achieve.

"Sport is a very tricky beast and at 15 years it is easy for someone to turn their back on it. Our object is to bring young swimmers through to 15 or 16 years of age so they still want to do it. Often with a degree of success comes the weight of expectation.

"We are aware of the pressure many young swimmers find themselves under," her mother Jenny said. "We are determined we will not push her and agree with her club's philosophy of enjoyment and fun."

Still, for one of such a tender age, there has to be a balance.

She trains six days a week but looks forward to her Sundays off when she enjoys a sleep in, a swim in the family pool and "doing some homework".

And, there is always time for 10 to 15 minutes at the piano as her way of relaxing.

While unable to compete at secondary school events - she is in Year 8 - Gina swam at last year's AIMS Games (for New Zealand intermediate and middle school pupils) and will be back this year to again spearhead the Diocesan challenge in the pool.

At least once a year Gina touches base with her 87-year-old grandmother, who lives in Nelson, and who takes great pride in her grand-daughter, the first of her grandchildren to show real interest in a sport in which she flew the New Zealand flag as New Zealand Olympian No 56.

Gina was not the only Diocesan pupil to shine at the junior nationals.

Bianca Traplin won gold in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, breaking records in all three, including the 36-year-old record for the 100m.

COLLEGE SPORT RESULTS

CRICKET
AUCKLAND
PREMIER ONE-DAY CHAMPIONSHIP
Round five.-
Pool A.-
WBHS 194/9 (Jarrod Baker 69; Hamish MacLean 5-29) beat Kings 157/9 (Scott Bevin 50, Charles Bevin 39; Mitchell Atkins 3-19, Luke Steyn 3-22) by 37 runs.
Rangitoto 112 (Pierce Fletcher 3-17, Conrad Benefield 3-18) lost to Sacred Heart 113/6 (Glen Phillips 30) by 4 wickets.
St Peters 240 (Josh Plummer 46, Jack Parsons 73, Joel Croos 37, S Cameron 35) beat Rosmini 216 (Alex Du Rand 68, Callum Simmonds 34, Jake Fitzgibbon 32; Cameron Jones 3-22) by 25 runs.

Points: WBHS 10, Sacred Heart 6, Rosmini, St Peters, Rangitoto 4, Kings 2.

Pool B.-
Avondale 183 (Wynan Classens 63, Anas Patel 37; Lachlan Walker 3-27) beat St Kentigern 117 (Anubhav Thapa 40; Andrew Glubb 5-13) by 67 runs.
MAGS186/9 tied with AGS 186 (Taffarel Monterio 61, James McKenzie 48; Hamish Campbell 5-29).
KBHS 192/9 lost to Macleans 193/5 (Vaibhav Mor 58, Liam Winn 43no) by 5 wickets.

Points: MAGS, AGS 9, St Kentigern, Macleans 4, KBHS, Avondale 2.

SOFTBALL
Senior girls, central, Marist 9 One Tree Hill 2; Pakuranga default to Diocesan; McAuley default to James Cook. Aorere 15 James Cook 2; Pakuranga default to Marist; McAuley default to One Tree Hill; Selwyn 11 Diocesan 8.
Senior boys, central, James Cook default to AGS; Avondale 10 Aorere 5; Rutherford 3 Tamaki 0. Rutherford 11 Green Bay 2; James Cook default to Avondale; Tamaki 3 AGS 3.
TENNIS
A1.-
Boys.-
Senior: WBHS 9 MAGS 0, St Kentigern 9 Kings 0, AGS 9 Sacred Heart 0.
Intermediate: St Kentigern 9 WBHS 0, Kings 8 MAGS 1, AGS 9 Sacred Heart 0.
Junior: AGS 1 9. Macleans 0, AGS 2 5 St Kentigern 4, Kings 9 Sacred Heart 0.
Girls.-
Senior: St Kentigern 1 9 MAGS 0, WGHS 5 St Kentigern 2 4, St Cuthberts 6 EGGS 3.
Intermediate: Baradene 7 Macleans 2, St Kentigern 6 TGS 3, St Cuthberts 5 EGGS 4.
Junior: St Kentigern 9 Baradene 2 0, Baradene 1 9 St Cuthberts 0, Diocesan 5 EGGS 4.

TOUCH
Senior.-
Boys.-
Counties, Wesley 7 Tangaroa 3; Papakura 7 Manurewa 3; James Cook 7 Alfriston 2. Alfriston default to Papakura; Wesley 5 Manurewa 2; James Cook 4 Rosehill 0.
Southern, Aorere 5 Auckland 7th Day Adventist. 1; Otahuhu 7 Southern Cross 3; De La Salle 12 Kia Aroha 0. Aorere 4 Otahuhu 3; Southern Cross 9 Kia Aroha 0; Kings 9 Auckland 7th Day Adventist. 0.
Eastern, A grade, pool A, St Kentigern A 6 Macleans 1. Pool B: St Kentigern B 4 Botany Downs 0. B grade, pool A, Howick 5 Michael Park 3. Pool B, Tamaki 8 St Kentigern C 2; Pakuranga 7 Selwyn 2.
Central, A grade, St Pauls 7 MAGS 1; AGS 11 Dilworth A 2. St Peter's A 6 MAGS 1. B grade, St Peters B 3 Dilworth B 0; MRGS 7 Dilworth C 3. Dilworth B 3 Lynfield 2; MRGS 8 Dilworth D 2.
Western, Waitakere Mixed 2 Massey B 1. KBHS 4 Waitakere Mixed 0. Massey A 3 Avondale 1; Liston 7 Waitakere Boys 1; KBHS 11 Massey C 1. Rutherford 2 Waitakere Boys 0; Massey A 9 Massey B 0; Liston 5 Avondale 1.
North Harbour, A grade, WBHS A1 12 Mahurangi 0; WBHS A2 5 Hato Petera 2. Hato Petera 5 Mahurangi 3; WBHS A1 8 Orewa 0. B grade, Long Bay default to WBHS Red; WBHS Green 7 Hato Petera B 2; Glenfield 2 Kristin 2. Hato Petera B 9 Kristin 4.

Girls.-
Counties, Alfriston default to James Cook; Pukekohe 4 Tangaroa 0.
Southern, Mangere 2 McAuley 2; Aorere 2 Otahuhu 0; Auckland 7th Day Adventist 1 Southern Cross 1.
Eastern, A grade, St Kentigern A 11 Howick 0; Botany Downs 4 St Kentigern B 0. Sancta Maria 3 Howick 1. B grade: Tamaki 5 St Kentigern C 1. Pakuranga 5 St Kentigern C 3; Tamaki 6 One Tree Hill 0.
Central, A grade, MAGS 7 EGGS 2. EGGS 6 Baradene A 3; Diocesan A 12 St Marys A 2; AGGS 6 St Cuthberts A 1. B grade, Baradene B 4 St Cuthberts B 3; Marist 8 Diocesan B 0; Lynfield 6 St Marys B 2.
Western, Massey 2 6 Waitakere 1; Massey 1 6 St Dominics 1; Avondale 4 Rutherford 3. Massey 1 9 Massey 2 0; Avondale 11 Waitakere 0; Rutherford 9 St Dominics 0.
North Harbour, A grade, WGHS 9 Carmel 1; Mahurangi 11 Pinehurst 0; Rangitoto 6 Whangaparaoa 0. B grade, Kristin 10 WGHS Girls C 0; WGHS B 3 Long Bay 3; Northcote default to WGHS D; Rangitoto 1 Hato Petera 0. Northcote default to WGHS B; Kristin 4 Long Bay 1; WGHS C 6 Rangitoto 2; WGHS D 5 Hato Petera 1.

Mixed.-
Counties, Manurewa 6 James Cook Puutake 1; Alfriston 11 Tuakau 1. Alfriston 4 Manurewa 2; Tuakau 2 Tangaroa 1.
Southern, Mangere 5 Otahuhu 3; Aorere 5 Southern Cross 4.
Eastern, Howick 3 Botany Downs A 2; Macleans 7 Botany Downs B 0. Botany Downs A 8 Botany Downs B 1; Macleans 4 Howick 2.
Central, MAGS 8 Western Springs 5. Western Springs 5 MRGS 2; Onehunga 11 Marcellin A 2.
North Harbour, pool A, Long Bay A 6 Kaipara B 2; Northcote default to Mahurangi A.
Pool B, Kaipara A 12 Long Bay B 0; Albany Senior High default to Mahurangi B.

VOLLEYBALL
Premier girls: WGHS 3 McAuley 0; WGHS 3 Sir Edmund Hillary 0; McAuley 3 Sir Edmund Hillary 0.
Rangitoto 3 MAGS 0; Mangere 3 Rangitoto 0; Mangere 3 MAGS 0.
Premier boys: Orewa 3 Manurewa 0; De La Salle 3 Manurewa 2; Orewa 3 De La Salle 2. Otahuhu 3 Sir Edmund Hillary 2; WBHS A 3 Sir Edmund Hillary 1; Otahuhu 3 WBHS A 1. Rangitoto 3 AGS 0; One Tree Hill 3 AGS 2; Rangitoto 3 One Tree Hill 1.