On Friday 24th June, Paralympian Tim Prendergast came in to talk to our students.

Tim, who we are lucky enough to have hosted before, spoke incredibly inspiringly to a number of our girls. He described how he began to lose his sight at the age of eight, and how this led to his abandoning any hope of pursing his love of sports, before being encouraged to try athletics by his teacher at school. This was, of course, the beginning of an incredibly successful career as a middle distance runner.

Tim represented New Zealand in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, winning a gold medal in the T13 800m event. He also represented his country at the Beijing Games in 2008 and London Games in 2012, where he ran his fastest time but was just edged out of the medals.

He emphasised to the girls the importance of perseverance and following your dreams, even if they seem difficult, or even impossible, to achieve. Tim then did some exercises with the girls which demonstrated the influence of the mind on the physical body, as well as the important role teamwork plays in sport.

Overall, it was an incredible inspiring visit, and we would like to extend a huge thanks to Tim for coming in to see us.