Originally from Kaikōura, Christopher’s parents spent 7 years driving him the 3-hour round trip to Blenheim for weekly training. Christopher then made up for missed schoolwork at night, which was extra tough given he has dyslexia. Despite more challenges after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and then being told in 2017 he was too old to start competing, Christopher dug deeper and in the last two years has been in NZ’s top 4 and on the podium for all 4 of his strokes. This Grant will enable him to represent NZ at the Mare Nostrum Swim Series in Monaco and Barcelona as the next step towards his Olympic dreams.