Devon Familton at the Otago junior surf life-saving
championships at Warrington Beach on Sunday. Photo by Linda
Robertson.
Do not ask Columba College pupil Devon Familton (13) to
choose a favourite sport.
Devon is a high achiever in swimming, surf life-saving,
netball and hockey.
''Mum and Dad often ask me what sport I like the best,'' she
said.
''I like them all and intend to keep doing the lot.''
Swimming occupies most of her time, with five or six two-hour
sessions a week with Osca coach Gennadiy Labara.
The other sports are seasonal - surf life-saving in summer
and hockey and netball in the winter. She has made the
Dunedin Metropolitan netball team in her age group and the
Otago under-13 hockey team for the last three years.
Devon competed for Otago at the New Zealand junior swimming
championships last year and has qualified for the division 2
age group championships in Invercargill in April.
In surf life-saving, she has reached the podium at national
level. She was the only member of the Warrington club at the
national championships in Mt Maunganui, where she won gold in
the girls under-13 surf race and was third in the
run-swim-run event.
''I like the sport because you get to meet different
people,'' Devon said.
''It is always fun being at the beach.''
But it has not always been plain sailing when she ventures
outside her placid home patch at Warrington Beach. The waves
are gentle there and rarely get above 1m.
It was a different story when she first competed in Mt
Maunganui three years ago. The beach was on the edge of a
cyclone and Devon had to battle 5m waves.
It was better this month with waves of 2m at the national
championships. But it was not easy because of the strong
swell that drifted across the race courses, and a shore break
that dumped some of the competitors back on to the wave.
FAST LANE
Name: Devon Familton (13).
School: Columba College.
Sports: Surf life-saving, swimming, netball, hockey.
Achievements. -
Surf life-saving: New Zealand championships, second
girls under-13 surf race (2012); gold medal girls under-13
surf race and bronze in run-swim-run (2013); South Island
championships, first in girls under-14 surf race and diamond
(2013).
Swimming: Otago representative at junior nationals
(2012), NZ age group division 2 (2013).
Netball: Dunedin Metropolitan 2010, 2011, 2012.
Hockey: Otago under-13 2010-12.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.