Busyness of the long distance swimmer

Andrew Pullon is in the pool by 5am every weekday, attends university lectures and then goes swimming again in the evening. On top of his 18 plus hours in the pool each week, he does land-based training and competes in many and various competitions.

Eighteen-year-old Pullon is one of the first swimmers to be awarded a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship at Waikato University. He’s a long distance swimmer, and although he trains in the pool, Pullon prefers the more unpredictable open water, where you can’t see the bottom, you have to look ahead and often have to deal with chop and wind. He’s about to trial for the Commonwealth Games and is currently the third ranked New Zealand male over five kilometres.

“I’m useless at sprints,” he says, “but I can swim big distances. On a good day I cover five kilometres in less than an hour.” Recently he competed in the Australian open water championships at Lake Nagambie in Victoria. Still eligible to compete in the age-group competition, Pullon opted instead to swim in the open event. He was the third New Zealander home and 19th overall. Trouble was, he had to miss his first week at university.

“Luckily I’m a Hillary scholar, because Greg O’Carroll [University High Performance Manager] was able to help sort out what I’d missed and helped me to catch up,” says Pullon who is doing a conjoint degree in law and management. Hillary scholars not only have their fees paid but also receive specialist coaching and mentoring and take part in personal development and leadership programmes during their time at university.

NZ Swimming is a new partner to the Waikato Hillary Scholarship Programme, liaising with the swimmers’ coaches to ensure that a high level of coaching is provided and swimmers have every opportunity to perform at their best.

“My degree will probably take me a little bit longer than the usual five years because of my sport. I’m doing 100 points this year instead of the usual 120. But I know I can cope with that.”

Pullon found out about Hillary scholarships from his mother Beverley. She’s a mature student who is also a Hillary Scholar and one of two Waikato students about to embark on the new Doctor of Musical Arts degree being offered at Waikato University.