2016 Scholarship Recipient Rebecca Moynihan
Congratulations to Rebecca Moynihan - 2016 WHiPA Lloyd Morrison Pathway to Podium scholarship recipient!
Rebecca has been a competitive swimmer for nearly 7 years. Starting in 2009, she was originally part of the Levin Swimming Club, until she moved to Raumati Swimming Club two years ago. She now trains under the guidance and expertise of former Olympic swimmer Jon Winter. Rebecca is currently a Year 13 student at Waiopehu College, Levin, and will be celebrating her 18th birthday next week!
Rebecca’s favourite stroke is freestyle, particularly in the sprint events including the 50m and 100m freestyle, and every now and again the 200m freestyle. Rebecca is the back to back national title holder of the short course 50m freestyle for the 16 year old girls and the 17-18 year old age group (winning it as a 17 year old). This year she plans to win it for a third time in October, at the New Zealand Short Course Championships, as an 18-year-old. She also recently won the long course 50m freestyle at the New Zealand Age Group Championships 2016 in the 17-18 year old girls age group. Rebecca is the current holder of two Wellington records in this event.
Rebecca has represented the Wellington region in the Wellington All Stars team for the past three years. She also travelled to Brisbane, in December last year, as part of this team to compete in the Queensland State Championships, where she placed 7th in the 17-18 year old girls 100m freestyle.
She was also a 2015 recipient of a Lloyd Morrison scholarship, from WHiPA, to assist with her travel, training, and competition costs. The scholarship ensured Rebecca was able to continue to travel down to Paraparaumu from Shannon, each day (sometimes twice a day!) to attend training. Her selection for this year’s Lloyd Morrison Pathway to Podium scholarship will provide the opportunity to learn new skills and experience that will be invaluable for her promising future career in swimming.
After graduating college this year, Rebecca plans to travel to America, in August 2017, to attend University on a swimming scholarship. Here she will compete collegiately for four years while studying for her degree. The Pathway to Podium program will set Rebecca up for a great experience over there and create an easier transition into high performance later on.
Congratulations Rebecca!
