News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Swimmer Cameron Leslie Wins Gold in Manchester

Swimmer Cameron Leslie Wins Gold in Manchester

Three-time Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Cameron Leslie, 33, produced a big finish to claim gold in the 50m backstroke S4 final at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, Stuff reports. A thrilled Leslie said:…

Sailor Jono Macbeth Wins Round the Island Race

Sailor Jono Macbeth Wins Round the Island Race

One of the world’s best sailors, Auckland-born Jono Macbeth, 49, has managed to keep a low profile this past six years living in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, but after being part of…

Rower Hamish Bond Retires After Three Olympic Golds

Rower Hamish Bond Retires After Three Olympic Golds

Dunedin-born Hamish Bond, 35, has announced his retirement from rowing, bringing down the curtain on a glittering career during which he became the first New Zealand man to win gold at three consecutive Olympics,…

Brothers Ravenhall Swim Whirlpool with Whisky

Brothers Ravenhall Swim Whirlpool with Whisky

Two New Zealand-born UK-based brothers, Alex and Nick Ravenhall, have just completed a crossing of the world’s third largest whirlpool, The Corryvreckan in Scotland, as part of a bid to raise awareness of the…

Aotearoa Women’s Surfing Breaking Stereotypes

Aotearoa Women’s Surfing Breaking Stereotypes

Though movements to boost women’s participation in surfing are taking off in the Pacific region, New Zealand mother-of-two Kelly Murphy remembers the challenges she faced as a teenager trying to make a career out…

Travel Lockdown a Blessing for US Surfers

Travel Lockdown a Blessing for US Surfers

Back in March, photographer Ridge BenBen and surfer Joe Kisling, both from the US, travelled to the South Island for the Single Fin Mingle logging contest, an annual event that describes itself as a…

First for Surfskier Danielle McKenzie in Hong Kong

First for Surfskier Danielle McKenzie in Hong Kong

World champion surfskier New Zealander Danielle McKenzie proved that winning the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in France in September was no fluke when she backed up her performance in Hong Kong recently…

Team GB’s First Olympic Surfer is NZer Jay Quinn

Team GB’s First Olympic Surfer is NZer Jay Quinn

New Zealander Jay Quinn, 36, is well-placed to become Team GB’s first surfer at the Olympics – thanks to a rekindled enthusiasm with the sport and his Welsh-born mother. BBC Sport Wales correspondent Dafydd…

Icy World Record for Diver Ant Williams

Icy World Record for Diver Ant Williams

Freediver Ant Williams, 47, has claimed a Guinness World Record for the deepest dive under ice, in a Norwegian fjord in the Arctic Circle. Overseen by GWR observers, wearing only a wetsuit and carrying a…

Pits and Puts with Surfer Kehu Butler

Pits and Puts with Surfer Kehu Butler

“Kehu Butler may hail from New Zealand, the land of lefts, but you’d never guess that by the regularfoot’s powerful forehand in his new edit,” Ben Waldron writes for SURFER magazine, which features the…

Freediver Jonathan Sunnex a Dominica Drawcard

Freediver Jonathan Sunnex a Dominica Drawcard

World-class freediver and instructor Ngaruawahia-born Dominica-based Jonathan Sunnex, 34, has always had an eye for talent and a vision for success, according to a profile published on the sport’s dedicated website, DeeperBlue.com. In 2011,

SailGP’s Russell Coutts Makes Tokyo Recommendations

SailGP’s Russell Coutts Makes Tokyo Recommendations

Five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts believes the format used in the New Zealander’s annual SailGP league could be adopted by the Olympics as the sport looks to modernise. Sailing has been a staple at…

Swimmer Makes Olympian Grandmother Proud

Swimmer Makes Olympian Grandmother Proud

Seventy years after her grandmother swam in the London 1948 Olympic Games, Auckland swimmer Gina Galloway, 17, took up the torch to represent her country at the Buenos Aires 2018

Future Looking Bright for Surfer Paige Hareb

Future Looking Bright for Surfer Paige Hareb

“A world tour consisting exclusively of wavepool events would, without doubt, see Paige Hareb crowned as world champion,” Sean Doherty writes for Surfer magazine. The 28-year-old New Zealander was “sparky” at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch,…

Young Surfer Ariana Shewry off to California

Young Surfer Ariana Shewry off to California

In October, Oakura surfer Ariana Shewry will fly to Huntington Beach in California to represent New Zealand at the world junior champs. The 15-year-old recently took visual journalists Andy Jackson and Simon O’Connor on…

Kayaker Paddles from Australia to New Zealand

Kayaker Paddles from Australia to New Zealand

“Scott Donaldson has arrived in New Plymouth after spending two months at sea, covering 2000km,” as reported in The Guardian. “The 48-year-old has become the first person to kayak the…

Win for Kayaking Duo in Germany

Win for Kayaking Duo in Germany

World Champions New Zealanders Lisa Carrington, 28, and Caitlin Ryan, 26, have won a convincing gold medal in the K2 500m at World Cup 2 in Duisburg, Germany, Radio New Zealand reports. The pair, who…

James Blake Onboard Reporter in Volvo Ocean Race

James Blake Onboard Reporter in Volvo Ocean Race

“Long before Peter Blake was killed by a Brazilian pirate in the Amazon in 2001, he talked at the dinner table with his young son James about the privileges that came with successfully sailing…

Teammates Turn Into Rivals at the Volvo Ocean Race

Teammates Turn Into Rivals at the Volvo Ocean Race

“Fast friends and sailing stars, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have won Olympic gold and the America’s Cup together in the last two years, but their career paths are diverging for the moment in…

Remembering Sir Peter Blake 16 Years On

Remembering Sir Peter Blake 16 Years On

“It is 16 years since we lost Volvo Ocean Race legend Sir Peter Blake,” Jonno Turner writes for sailing news network Sail-World. “A three-time Ocean Race skipper, he finally achieved his dream of lifting…

Neville Crichton Back at the Helm to Hobart

Neville Crichton Back at the Helm to Hobart

New Zealand-born businessman and sailor Neville Crichton, 72, will skipper this year’s Sydney to Hobart yacht race in perennial favourite and nine-time winner Wild Oats XI, the 2015 winner Comanche. Crichton, the founder of…

SUP Annabel Anderson Tahiti Airline Ambassador

SUP Annabel Anderson Tahiti Airline Ambassador

Champion standup paddler Annabel Anderson, who is originally from Wanaka, is the latest sports star to join Air Tahiti Nui’s ambassador ranks with the New Zealander looking forward to further finessing her sport in…

Peter Burling Named World Sailor of the Year

Peter Burling Named World Sailor of the Year

“America’s Cup winner Peter Burling has been named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year — only the second Kiwi sailor to take the prize more than once,” as reported in an article in…

Kim Chambers Swims with Sharks in New Doco

Kim Chambers Swims with Sharks in New Doco

New Zealand-born Kim Chambers started swimming after a life-changing accident. Just a few years later, she became the first woman to take on a notorious stretch of shark-inhabited waters – a solo swim from…

William Trubridge’s Autobiography Oxygen

William Trubridge’s Autobiography Oxygen

New Zealand freediver William Trubridge’s autobiography Oxygen will be released on 30 October in New Zealand and Australia. Trubridge said on his Facebook page: “After Vertical Blue this year I locked myself in my house…

NZ Capture 7 Medals at World Rowing Championships

NZ Capture 7 Medals at World Rowing Championships

New Zealand have captured seven medals – three gold, two silvers and two bronze – at the World Rowing Championships in Florida. Newshub and the New…

Tracy Clark Aims to Complete Oceans Seven

Tracy Clark Aims to Complete Oceans Seven

A swimmer and coach from Norwich has set herself the task of crossing the North Channel as part of a global challenge. New Zealander Tracy Clark, 47, can often be found swimming in one…

Morgan Haakma Wins Amateur Wakeboarding Title

Morgan Haakma Wins Amateur Wakeboarding Title

Waikato University Hillary Scholar Morgan Haakma has won her first world title at the 2017 Nautique WWA Wakeboard World Championships. Competing in the Amateur Women’s division, Haakma won “with a stand-up run filled with multiple…

New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle Announces Retirement

New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle Announces Retirement

Freestyle swimming champion, Auckland-born Lauren Boyle, 29, has announced her retirement from competition. The announcement on Boyle’s Facebook page read: “And, that’s a wrap. I feel lucky to love the sport after…

Charlotte Brynn Swims from Quebec to Vermont

Charlotte Brynn Swims from Quebec to Vermont

New Zealander Charlotte Brynn recently swam the 40.2km distance between Lake Memphremagog Magog, Quebec and Newport, Vermont in 13 hours and 28 minutes, the second time she has completed the swim. Brynn lives in Stowe,…

Open Water Swimmer Charlotte Brynn Loves Adventure

Open Water Swimmer Charlotte Brynn Loves Adventure

Charlotte Brynn, a New Zealander who lives in Stowe, Vermont, is one of the world’s 50 most adventurous female open-water swimmers, according to a recently released list from the World Open Water Swimming Association. Brynn…

Stand Up Paddler Annabel Anderson Wins Again

Stand Up Paddler Annabel Anderson Wins Again

New Zealand world champion female stand up paddler Annabel Anderson defended her title recently at the 21.2km West Marine Carolina Cup elite graveyard race held at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. Anderson led from start-to-finish…

Grant Rawlinson’s 12,000km Test of Endurance

Grant Rawlinson’s 12,000km Test of Endurance

New Zealander Grant Rawlinson, 42, has just finished the 4500km first leg of his epic journey from Singapore to New Zealand. Having rowed to Darwin, he will next have to cycle down to Coffs…

Sailor Conrad Colman’s Work with the Ocean

Sailor Conrad Colman’s Work with the Ocean

Already haunted by the death of his father in a sailing accident, New Zealand-born Conrad Colman was forced to confront his own mortality during the Vendée Globe – a non-stop, 45,000-km, solo sailing race. “My…

Conrad Colman Completes Vendée Globe

Conrad Colman Completes Vendée Globe

New Zealander Conrad Colman, 33, has written a new chapter in the storied history of the Vendée Globe crossing the finish line of the eighth edition of the non stop solo round the world…

Conrad Colman Solo Around the World in 80 Days

Conrad Colman Solo Around the World in 80 Days

It’s known as the Everest of the Seas, one of the toughest events in any sport. As the only non-stop, round the world solo sailing race, the Vendée Globe is a monumental…

Grant Rawlinson to Row from Singapore to NZ

Grant Rawlinson to Row from Singapore to NZ

Adventurer New Zealander Grant Rawlinson, 42, continues to push the limits embarking on a 12,000km rowing and cycling journey from Singapore to New Zealand. The Singapore permanent resident, who is known as Axe to his…

Extreme Sailor Ed Smyth Stops off in Cardiff

Extreme Sailor Ed Smyth Stops off in Cardiff

New Zealander Ed Smyth (pictured centre) and Australian James Wierzbowski from the Extreme Sailing Series team Oman Air were in Cardiff recently on a leg of the regatta where they took time to talk…

Human Dolphin William Trubridge

Human Dolphin William Trubridge

William Trubridge “is easily the greatest freediver to ever live, a multiple time world champion and holder of two of the three most significant world records in the sport,” writes Don Rowe for

Freediver William Trubridge Gets Deep

Freediver William Trubridge Gets Deep

American publication Outside Magazine recently caught up with world record-holding freediver New Zealander William Trubridge from his home in the Bahamas, where he runs a diving school called Vertical Blue, to learn…

Canoeing World Cup Win for Lisa Carrington

Canoeing World Cup Win for Lisa Carrington

World and Olympic K1 200m champion New Zealander Lisa Carrington, 26, has won the final of the sprint discipline of the opening cup regatta in Duisburg, Germany – her 12th successive victory in the…

Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

New Zealander William Trubridge “is a man who both embraces and defies nature,” according to the Telegraph. The director of Vertical Blue, a freediving team and school based in the Bahamas, tells the newspaper…

NZ Surfing’s Great Underdog Story – Daniel Kereopa

NZ Surfing’s Great Underdog Story – Daniel Kereopa

“Daniel Kereopa sees himself as an underdog. And depending on your vantage, he’s right,” writes Zach Weisberg for The Inertia. Kereopa has deep Maori heritage in New Zealand. His hometown Raglan is the…

Free Diver Sets Two World Records in Three Days

Free Diver Sets Two World Records in Three Days

Free-diver William Trubridge “has now gone deeper than any unassisted free-diver before by breaking his own world record – twice in less than 72 hours”, as reported in an article in The…

Anthony Mosse Looks Back at Stellar Swimming Career

Anthony Mosse Looks Back at Stellar Swimming Career

New Zealand Olympic medallist Anthony Mosse, who was born in Hong Kong, is profiled in the South China Morning Post. Mosse, 51, now working for Virgin America in San Francisco, talks about the events…

Sophie Pascoe Lowers Own World Record

Sophie Pascoe Lowers Own World Record

Kiwi Paralympic swimmer Sophie Pascoe has lowered her own S10 100m fly World Record to 1:02.60 on the fourth day of competition at the 2016 New Zealand Open Championships. “I was hoping for a 1:03…

Lisa Carrington World’s Best Paddler

Lisa Carrington World’s Best Paddler

Tauranga kayaker Lisa Carrington, 26, has been named sportswoman of the year at the 2016 World Paddle Awards held in Barcelona. Carrington received the honour as credit for her double win at last year’s…

Scottish Coastal Rowing New Zealand Style

Scottish Coastal Rowing New Zealand Style

“A fleet of St Ayles skiffs travelled to Motuora Island nature reserve to participate in the most ambitious coastal rowing event to date: a 15-day rowing and sailing expedition exploring the islands, peninsulas and…

Kim Chambers, the World’s Most Badass Swimmer

Kim Chambers, the World’s Most Badass Swimmer

The world’s best open water swimmer, New Zealand-born Kim Chambers, 38, who recently swam from the Farallon Islands to San Francisco, tells Outside Magazine that fear makes you grow, a little fat is okay,…

Team New Zealand Recruits Italian Skipper Max Sirena

Team New Zealand Recruits Italian Skipper Max Sirena

Team New Zealand has signed Max Sirena, 53, who skippered the Italian challenger team Luna Rossa at the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco. “This stresses the sporting and friendly ties of mutual respect that…

Kim Chambers Makes Swim History in San Francisco

Kim Chambers Makes Swim History in San Francisco

New Zealand’s Kim Chambers has become the first woman to swim the nearly 50km stretch from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge in a feat conquering one of the world’s most dangerous…

Silver Medal for Lauren Boyle in 1500m Free

Silver Medal for Lauren Boyle in 1500m Free

Lauren Boyle has won a silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle at the FINA World Championships, lowering her New Zealand national record to 15:40.14. The New Zealander currently is working with famed swimming coach Denis…

Rowing Ireland Chief Hamish Adams Looks Ahead

Rowing Ireland Chief Hamish Adams Looks Ahead

New Zealander Hamish Adams has been living in Ireland for the past 15 years. Formerly player services manager with Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association (IRUPA), Adams is now the chief executive of Rowing Ireland. Ahead…

Open Water Swim Accolade for Adventurer Charlotte Brynn

Open Water Swim Accolade for Adventurer Charlotte Brynn

New Zealander Charlotte Brynn has been included on the 2015 list of the world’s 50 most adventurous open water women by the World Open Water Swim Association. Brynn, a New Zealander who lives…

Sophie Pascoe Breaks Paralympic World Record at New Zealand Open

Sophie Pascoe Breaks Paralympic World Record at New Zealand Open

Sophie Pascoe, a New Zealand superstar in the Paralympic swimming community, has broken her Paralympic world record of 1:03.95 in the 100 fly for the S10 division with a 1:03.72 at the New Zealand…

Sam and James O’Connor Row for Winning Oxford Team

Sam and James O’Connor Row for Winning Oxford Team

New Zealand brothers Sam and James O’Connor have helped Oxford University beat Cambridge in the annual University Boat Races held on the River Thames in London. Sam, 27, (pictured left) who has competed in and…