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- My name's Tom.
I'm currently studying at the University of Canterbury.
I'm in my third year.
I'm majoring in accounting and finance,
and right now, I'm a member of the New Zealand
Under 23 rowing team, that's going to compete
at the Under 23 World Champs
in Plovdiv, Bulgaria at the end of July.
(electronic music)
If you're keen on sport in high school
and you're not sure what to do with it
once you get to university, I strongly encourage you
to continue your sport of choice
whilst also doing tertiary education.
The University of Canterbury is great for this,
as they're really accommodating for you
to continue your sport whilst also studying.
The great thing about sport is that it teaches you
the values of hard work and dedication.
I've been able to translate this to my studies,
and I've found it really beneficial for that.
(electronic music)
So, initially I chose to study here
at the University of Canterbury because
of the engineering department.
I got about ten papers deep into an engineering degree
and then decided that it wasn't for me.
So start of last year, I made the change
to accounting and finance, and I love it.
The workload's a bit less, which has meant
I can focus on the rowing as well.
(electronic music)
Yeah, so this is the library.
I come here to study, I guess.
First two floors are sort of discussion zones,
and then the further up we go, it's all silent zone.
(electronic music)
Where I'm from, Hawkes Bay.
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Today we've got physio, which is at three o'clock.
And so I'll head in there.
My back's quite sore at the moment,
so we'll just see what's going on there,
hopefully nothing too major.
After physio, it's quite convenient
that physio is at the gym.
So after physio, I'll go straight to weights
and get the workout done there.
So I train at the Apollo Centre,
and that's a gym that's run
off High Performance Sport New Zealand.
So there's a few of them around the country.
We've got strength-conditioning coaches there,
which is really good having them onsite
to correct you on your technique
and show you how to make sure
you're lifting weights properly.
That's really important, as incorrect lift technique
could lead to injury in the future.
Rowing's a real technical sport
but you gotta have the horsepower to complement
the technical side of things.
So in the gym it sort of teaches you
that explosive speed which is needed during the stroke.
And you gotta keep the muscle up as well.
Although I struggle to do that sometimes.
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This is the flat, none of my flatmates are rowers,
and I really like that 'cause you know I escape from rowing.
I flat with seven other guys and all of them
are students at UC here.
Get fresh produce.
Nice little zucchinis here.
Some courgettes.
Gorgeous.
See the vege garden?
- No I haven't seen the vege garden.
I wanna see this rat, it's not here though ay?
- Oh na we have heaps of pain with it.
- The Foundry is a university run bar.
And so we've got he pregame there before
the Crusaders versus the Blues rugby match.
I'm on the executive of a student run supporters army.
Ready to roll, let's go.
(hip hop music)
- Cantabs, we're a student supporters army
from the University of Canterbury.
We support all Canterbury sports, local,
and even the Crusaders,
we got a good relationship with them.
We put on a bit of a do before the game.
Get on some buses with a huge amount of frames,
head to the footy and get behind the boys.
So yeah that's what we're all about.
- So tonight as you can see behind us,
people are coming in.
As they come in with their ticket,
they get a pair of overalls, a flag,
and a pair of sunglasses, so everyone looks the part
when they come to the game.
We all sit in a student designated bank,
and everyone comes together to watch hopefully
a good game of footy.
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(relaxing music)
- So to train for the Under 23 World Champs,
I've had to move up here to Lake Karapiro
with Rowing New Zealand.
It's one of the best training venues in the world
and a lot of world champions have come
right from these waters.
Which is a really cool experience for me.
It's so great because of the long k's you can get in
and the good water.
It's good weather as well.
They've hosted a world champs here in 2010.
I really enjoy here 'cause it's nice and peaceful,
it's out of the big city,
and it enables you to focus on your studies
whilst also training in a high performance environment.
We'll get on the water at 7:30,
usually we'll do about 22 k's,
we're in an eight,
so that's eight people in one boat.
It's the biggest boat that the sport of rowing has to offer.
The great thing about the eight is the horsepower inside it,
but then there's also eight different people
that you have to get doing the same thing each stroke
on the same page.
It's quite a tough thing to do,
but if you can achieve that the boat really moves.
It's been really important for me to continue my sport
whilst studying as it keeps you fit and active
and it really separates you day.
It gives you something else to do as well,
and lets you enhance yourself as a person I guess.
Rowing is great because it can really take you places.
I've been really privileged to be part
of the New Zealand junior team a couple of years back
and we went to Hamburg.
And now part of the Under 23 squad
I'm traveling to Bulgaria.
The great thing about training up here
with Rowing New Zealand is you're sort of rubbing shoulders
with the elite squad.
They're exceptional at what they do
and some of the best in the world.
And to get the privilege to train with them
is such a great opportunity,
and I've been given that all through
the sport of rowing.
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