Sutton gets to play it cool

Meg Sutton's energetic aerobics routine has seen her feature prominently in the national junior ranks.

Young aerobics star working hard to succeed ... and overcome that dated image

Meg Sutton is exhausted at the end of her two-minute aerobics routine.

Her high-energy performance is choreographed and incorporates all the intensity of dance, interspersed with press-ups, jumps and other moves requiring a high degree of skill, laced with the flexibility of gymnastics. Fast-twitch fibres are essential, so she has to restrict going for long runs, even though she enjoys doing that.

She thinks the sport is cool, but it is sometimes harder to convince the uninitiated.

"They think it's something our aunties did in the 80s," she laughs.

Now she thrives on the 10 to 13 hours a week training and is starting to make a name for herself in the junior ranks, having placed eighth and 13th in the 2011 and 2012 world aerobics championships.

The 14-year-old Year 10 Pakuranga College student is hoping to defend her junior open individual title at next week's national schools aerobics competition in Invercargill.

She believes being one of the oldest in the Year 9-10 category will work to her advantage, "though I don't want to get my hopes up".

She explains some of her mental approach before she explodes into her routine during competition.

"You know you've done all the training, so it's basically about getting in the zone. You talk to others but you don't get off focus. I don't like to watch people just before I go on, psyching myself up for it. It's quite a mental thing. You are fit, but you know you are going to die at the end.

"You have a new routine each year, sometimes new leotards and new music. You might tweak a couple of moves for each competition, but you don't change a lot."

Her music has to have the right amount of "highs and lows" and her coach has the power of veto.

That coach is former national aerobics rep Kirsten Palmer, who trains Sutton at the Millennium Fitness club, under the Howick RSA. Palmer is also a world-rated head judge, which is helpful for Sutton in learning how the judges think.

Performances are judged on artistic, creative and technical criteria.

Sutton enjoys team aerobics for the social interaction, and has been successful there too, winning gold at the Australian championships in July. But lack of sponsorship means her team will not be at next month's world championships in Prague.

Life is not all about aerobics for Sutton. She is not a big TV watcher, and her study workload will increase next year, but she also enjoys tennis, running and tries not to neglect her friends, unless there is a clash with training.

And how far can she go in the sport? As far as she possibly can.

"I don't know why I'd want to stop. I love it so much."

Coaching holds appeal, and she would love to see aerobics become an Olympic or Commonwealth Games sport. Then more people would know that it's not just an extension of pilates or yoga.