Natalie's a gold medal performer!

Business diploma student Natalie Peat has helped New Zealand become just the second country to successfully defend a surf lifesaving world championship title during the biennial event in France.

Natalie set a new world record as part of the four-woman NZ team who won the 4x50m obstacle relay. The team also won silver in the rescue tube race and bronze in the ocean relay during the five day competition.

Natalie (19) is a member of the Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club and completed the New Zealand Diploma in Business at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic in July as part of the high performance sports scholarship programme.

She was selected for the Black Fins team to compete at the Life Saving World Championships Rescue 2014 event in Languedoc-Roussillon. The Kiwi team beat Australia - the only other country to have previously won back-to-back world titles - by 26 points.

The win follows individual success at the national championships earlier this year when Natalie won the U19 run-swim and the U19 and Open surf race titles, as well as silver and bronze medals in the team events.

She also won the BOP/Coromandel Open and U19 Female Sportsperson of the Year titles and the Papamoa SLSC Open and U19 best female awards for the 2013/2014 season. 

Natalie is now taking a break from her studies before continuing with the Bachelor of Business Analysis next year.

“It’s one of the study pathway options. Studying also allows me to keep up my training. Long term, I want to keep training and racing for the next decade and after that I’ll have my qualifications to fall back on,” she says.

Natalie has a punishing training regime, swimming six mornings a week and training in the surf and at the gym – totalling about 14 training sessions a week.

She says the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic High Performance Academy Sports Scholarship has been the key to balancing her study and sport aspirations.

“The scholarship has allowed me to not need a part-time job like most of my classmates, so I can focus my time on studying and training. Training in the morning, off to Polytechnic, then back to training – the scholarship allows me to switch my concentration between both without adding a third element.”

“Another good thing about being part of the scholarship programme is that the tutors know that you have a pretty busy schedule, so they’re really flexible and approachable. If you’re away the week of a test or an assessment they’re super helpful and ensure you can get everything done.”

Long term Natalie hopes to join the professional iron woman series in France and is willing to sacrifice her social life to get there.

“I’ve never been into going out – it’s fun but it just makes you tired for the next week. An experience for me like winning world titles is more satisfying than a fun night out with your friends. It’s comes down to what you want to achieve at the end of the day and for me it’s about sport – it’s a higher priority.”

*Eight sports scholarships are available each year to students studying at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. The scholarships cover full fees, paid for a maximum of one year. In addition, recipients have access to campus sport and fitness facilities and high performance services.