Melita will make huge splash if she has right attitude

Pompallier College's Melita Raravula has natural abilities that could make her Northland's next big thing in the pool but, as her coach Monica Cooper sees it, if she goes on to make the next step and find success in the open division nationally, it will be because of her attitude.
The 13-year-old came within a second of breaking the 100m breaststroke age-group record at junior nationals this year and achieved the qualifying time for the open nationals as a 12-year-old - impressive stuff indeed - but Cooper says it is what she does next that will define her future  achievements.
Cooper is currently working with a number of Northland swimmers, aged from  13-17, who have recorded times in the pool that have qualified them for national competitions. The programme, run in association with Swimming Northland, is to help develop their skills further.
"My aim is to have them go away to nationals and perform well but also to try to get them to step up another level,"  Cooper said.
"We've had a good history of Northland swimmers, like Kate Cochrane, Cushla Chapman and Mark [Cooper], who have all produced medals at the open nationals, and this year, while we had some swimmers who qualified for the open nationals, none of them actually attended and that was obviously disappointing, because they missed out on a good experience.
"In any sport the least amount of errors you make gives you the best chance of success - you only have to look at the All Blacks to see that - athletes can't rely on talent alone.
"These swimmers need to learn how to race at a higher level ... it's all very well to do a good job here [in Northland], but they need to be able to see what is possible and why they need to put in a higher level of commitment."
And that's why the coach thinks Raravula has what it takes. A natural athlete, she  started swimming just over two years ago.
"I started learning how to swim when I was 10 and when I started getting confident in the water someone told me I should think about trying competitive swimming, so I did and now I love it," Raravula said.
She is currently training 1.5-2 hours, six days a week, in preparation  for her first  international swim meeting, the Victorian Short  Course Championships in Melbourne in two  weeks' time.
"The trip is mainly to see how I'll perform outside of my comfort zone, and I'm also looking forward to catching up with Mark Cooper, who has been a real inspiration to me, he's coaching over in Melbourne and he'll be at the same meet," Raravula said.
The trip is aimed at helping the teenager  build up toward the national age group championships in March - and  eventually  open age group championships.
"It's going to be a totally different experience to what I'm used to, but hopefully it'll be good for me."
Raravula is one of a promising group of  swimmers in Northland at the moment, including Carla Marsh, Kadence Christiansen, Ashley Crane and Hayley Jensen  - all regarded as  promising hopes for the future if they can kick on from excelling in the juniors.