Hawke’s Bay Poverty Bay (HBPB) Swimming had a strong presence at the Swimming New Zealand National Youth Performance Camp in Christchurch, held the week after the New Zealand Short Course Championships.

Four HBPB swimmers — Maggie Harper, Phoebe Nettle, Brooke Speers and Lola Stewart — attended the camp, while Charlotte McLaren was also selected for the squad but was unable to attend. The camp brought together 73 swimmers from across New Zealand for an intensive programme focused on performance, technical development and athlete education.

A focus on performance and development

Led by National Youth Coach David Lyles, the camp included two daily pool sessions, with swimmers completing both long course and short course training. Sessions covered a range of areas, including aerobic skills, individual medley, kicking, pulling, descending work and performance testing.

Swimmers also benefited from presentations and activities with experts in nutrition, lifestyle, strength and conditioning, high performance and athlete wellbeing. These included a supermarket visit, where swimmers learned how to assess the nutritional value of snacks to support their training and recovery.

Raising the standard across swimming

The camp also provided an opportunity for coaches to collaborate on ways to improve technical skills and establish consistent training standards to support swimmer development and performance across New Zealand. These learnings will help HBPB swimmers and clubs continue to build their skills and improve their racing.

HBPB was also represented by coaches Kirsty Johnson, participating in the National Youth Performance Coach Accelerate Programme, and Gary Knight, who was involved in the camp.

More exciting opportunities ahead

Further exciting opportunities await HBPB, with Sam Skidmore selected for the New Zealand 16 & Over Senior National Age Squad (Silver Squad).

In December, Sam will travel to Brisbane for a two-week programme that includes a training camp with swimmers from MCA, followed by the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Championships. Sam is one of just 20 swimmers from across New Zealand selected for the squad.

HBPB coach Kirsty Johnson will be one of three New Zealand coaches accompanying the squad, alongside David Lyles and Carl Gordon, providing another valuable opportunity for coaching development and international experience.

Congratulations to all our swimmers and coaches on these fantastic opportunities. We are proud to see HBPB represented at the national level and look forward to following their continued development and success.