by JEFF DILLON
Dunedin’s Kavanagh College head girl Erika Fairweather (17) recently had a “crowd goes wild” moment when her inclusion in the New Zealand Olympic swimming team was announced at a school assembly on June 16. The students erupted into cheers, and a customary haka was performed in her honour.
It could be a memory that Erika will need to carry with her to Tokyo to remind herself what it will mean to do well in the events in which she is competing. The ban on spectator involvement at Tokyo imposed by Covid-19 restrictions will be in stark contrast to the school assembly experience.
Her pathway to Tokyo began normally enough when, at the age of 6 months, she was introduced to a learn-to-swim class. That first stage learning continued through her early childhood years until, at about 10 years of age, she began to get involved in competitive swimming.
By that stage, Erika had to make some significant decisions. Growing up in the Otago Peninsula satellite suburb of Macandrew Bay, she had had to move on from the local primary school, which only went to Year 6, and seek a suitable school beyond that in Dunedin city itself.
She knew she would prefer to go to a co-educational school as a priority. So, the touring of school “Open Days” began, as did trying to make comparisons. Although neither she nor her parents were Catholic or
had any formal religious affiliations, Erika considered that she felt a real sense of welcome and community when investigating what Kavanagh College (Year 7 – 13) had to offer. Beside that welcoming vibe, it certainly provided a continuity of year levels, and it was co-educational. It also had the added benefit of being relatively close to Moana Pool.
There were about three other non-Catholic Macandrew Bay pupils who decided to choose Kavanagh as well, because it was a co-ed school, so she was not alone at a new school. She was aware also that her mother had attended Verdon College in Invercargill.
By the age of 12, Erika was getting close to some New Zealand records, and she realised that she was quite good at swimming. Of course, she had probably inherited some useful genes from her parents. Her father represented New Zealand in squash and her mother was a ballerina. Neither of them had been swimmers, although her mother is now a dive instructor.
As her swimming prowess began to develop, Erika came to admire the achievements of triple Olympic swimmer Lauren Boyle, who became her role model. At the age of 14, Erika became the youngest competitor at the 2018 Youth Olympics. Then, in 2019, she competed in the World Championships as a 15-year-old. It was a few weeks later in that year that she won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the World Junior Championships. Then came a fourth in the 200m freestyle at the same meeting. Those results really established her swimming credentials. She also presently holds 16 New Zealand national age grade long course records.
Yet Erika has a very sane and sensible attitude to her training. She certainly agrees that swimming is her priority, and other things come after that, but she maintains a training regime that is manageable. She has eight training sessions through Monday to Saturday presently. Her coaches have operations based at the Moana Pool. They are the Otago and New Zealand team coach Lars Humer, as well as Kurt Crosland. She jokes that it is a matter of “who wants to put up with me on a day”, as to which coach will take a training session. She admits to being “a hard case at times”. The emphasis is on making the training as efficient as possible, so she works hard during the session aiming to achieve as much speed as possible.
School life at Kavanagh provides a balance to the intensity of training, especially with her role as head girl this year. She is studying chemistry, biology, geography, mathematics and religious education in her last year at secondary school. Geography is her favourite subject, as it is interesting and provides options for research activities.
About being at Kavanagh, she commented, “It’s a really positive experience being here. I really like it.” She considered that the Religious Education programme through the years had made her more broad- minded. The programme dealt with many aspects, besides a basic Catholic component.
Looking ahead to next year, Erika would like to start tertiary studies, probably at the University of Otago, in ecology. However, other swimming possibilities may mean her studies have to be by distance learning. She certainly wants to stay in Dunedin. During 2022, there will be the national championships in Auckland. There will also be the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, and that is “definitely on my radar”, she admits. Then there
is the World Championships in Japan.
In the meantime, there is the current trip to Japan to undertake. Erika has qualified for the 400m freestyle, and obtained a wildcard spot in the 200m freestyle, as she just missed the qualifying mark by 0.1 second. She is also a member of the 4x200m relay team. She will be joining Carina Doyle (27), who is a former Kavanagh pupil, and who also became an Olympian this year with her inclusion in the relay team.
Kavanagh pupils and staff and friends will be following Erika’s races with great interest, and are hoping that things go swimmingly for their head girl.
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