Nate Moore can scarcely believe he will compete at the prestigious Nanjing Youth Olympics in China in August.
The Mount Maunganui College beach volleyballer arrived home this week from a whirlwind trip to Thailand where he and Kahurangi Robinson (Western Heights High School) qualified as one of six Asian teams to join 30 others for the first showing of beach volleyball at the Youth Olympics.
Moore, 17, said qualifying out of 15 teams in action at Khanom was the most difficult physical challenge he had endured.
"It was real hot and humid over there," Moore said. "The first day we were training in 36-37 degrees which was an absolute shock to the body.
"It was an absolute nightmare to start out with but by about the fourth game the body was getting used to it and we learned how to cope with it."