School of Sport & Exercise Science News

Busy Student Aims for Gold

Posted on: Thursday, 24 January 2008

David Klinkhamer, wheelchair rugby athlete and Sport Science student, is aiming for "gold" at the Beijing Paralympics this year.

David won the Prime Minister's Athlete Scholarship in 2007 and that same year his team, the NZ Wheel Blacks, qualified for the Beijing Paralympics.

Wheelchair rugby is an intense, physical team sport in which the Wheel Blacks currently rank, "… second in the world." At the 2006 World Championships in Christchurch New Zealand lost to the United States and Australia came in sixth place. David says that, "Beijing is a peak event for all of us and we are all aiming for success."

Looking forward to a busy season with overseas travel and competition on top of his Wintec studies, David says, "I would like to get into a sport and fitness related career but at the moment I'm really focussing on my studies and sport."

Sport Science lecturer, "Andrew Shanks, has been very helpful as my conditioning coach and, Kate Spilsbury, a postgraduate student from the UK, has been a great help with my weights and conditioning training," says David.

"In fact, Sport and Exercise Science has helped me a lot in my sport training as I can relate most of my coursework to real-life sport situations."

"So far, I've manage to get an "A" average in my studies and studying at Wintec has definitely benefited my sport."