Comet and Midway SLSC swimmer Angus Blair has been awarded a four-year scholarship to Monmouth University in New Jersey, USA, and he's "stoked".
Photo / Glenn Hamblyn
Comet and Midway SLSC swimmer Angus Blair has been awarded a four-year scholarship to Monmouth University in New Jersey, USA, and he's "stoked".
Photo / Glenn Hamblyn
Gisborne swimmer and surf lifesaver Angus Blair has been awarded an athletics scholarship to Monmouth University in the US.
The nearly 19-year-old will head to New Jersey at the end of next week to become part of the university’s swim team.
He will be at the university for the next four years studying psychology.
“It’s been a long time coming for me after I expressed my interest in attending various US universities last year,” Blair said.
“It’s a big process but very worth it and I’m stoked to be going.”
Blair swims for the Comet club in Gisborne and has been a member of the Dawson Building Midway Surf Life Saving club since he was a youngster.
At the New Zealand surf lifesaving championships in March, he won gold in the Under-19 tube rescue and run-swim-run, and several silver and bronze medals in other races.
Blair has emerged as one of the country’s leading under-19 surf lifesaving swimmers.
He won a stack of medals at the Australian Surf Life Saving Pool Rescue Championships on the Gold Coast earlier this month - gold in the 100m rescue medley, silver in the 200m super life saver, and 100m and 50m carry, and bronze in the 50m fins race.
For Comet, he has won multiple national age group medals and will swim for the club at the New Zealand short course championships in Auckland next week prior to leaving for the States.
The New Zealand short course swimming championships in Auckland beckon next week for Angus Blair, where he will swim for Comet before he heads to the US.
Comet head coach Glenn Hamblyn said the scholarship presented a great opportunity for him.
“Not just with his swimming, but also with his education and life experience,” Hamblyn said.
“The swimming part will be pretty important in terms of the training and racing in the US, which will be quite different to what he’s experienced so far.
“This will make him a better swimmer - that’s for sure - in a more high-performance environment.
“Angus is absolutely up for it. He’s been excited about it for a while.”
Blair is the son of Tony and Donna Blair of Gisborne.
“Tony and I are extremely proud of what Angus has achieved and we wish him well in the future,” his mum said.
“We think like Glenn said - it’s a huge opportunity for him.
“The world is his oyster now.”
Angus Blair encourages other young people in Tairāwhtii to look into scholarships in the US. It's a big effort, but really worthwhile, he says.
Angus said it felt great to be going from a small city like Gisborne to New Jersey to further his swimming and academic career.
“It just goes to show that anyone can do this from Gisborne, and I encourage other young people here to look at it as well if they’ve got a hard-working attitude to their sport and schooling.
“I cannot wait to get there and experience this amazing opportunity. It’s going to be surreal.”
