Lisa Carrington - 2012 Olympic GOLD Medalist
Local hero - LISA CARRINGTON - will be arriving back in Ohope, New Zealand from the 2012 Commonwealth Games with GOLD. At only 16 years old Lisa had already achieved at high levels within New Zealand and was the NZ U16 Ski Championship back in 2005. We profiled Lisa in our local Ohope Tide magazine as the Ohope Achiever back in 2005 which we have taken the following information from. We will have to profile her again soon now that she is famous around the world!!
Lisa attended Whakatane High School in Whakatane and had to be very disciplined with her time to ensure she achieved academically as well as training hard. She was a key member of the Ohope Surf Lifesaving Club and won a lot of local and National Championship competitions. She was a member of the 2005-06 NZ Surf Life Saving Development squad and captained the U16 BOP surf life saving team that came 2nd at the inter-district Championships that year.
LISA was selected and travelled with the BOP scholarship squad to Australia in January 2005 and held the title as the BOP U16 ladies Surf Athlete of the Year in 2005.
When asked in 2005 who her mentors were & why - Lisa said "My brothers - Brett & Shaun - who have provided a pathway for my sport and in a family way have been my mentors initially and are always interested in my achievements. Both my brothers were NZ Sirf Life Saving Champions. "
Lisa's favourite food in 2005 was ice cream and hot chips from the local Beach Haven dairy! (I wonder if this has changed over the last 7 years?!) and she loved hanging and spending time relaxing and surfing at Ohope Beach.
We asked her back in 2005 - "Where to from here - what do you see yourself doing in the next 5-10 years?"
Lisa replied - "I actually haven't thought that far ahead in my life, but it would be awesome if I became a pro athlete, and maybe a physio or something in the area of sport"
WELL LISA YOU ARE A LOCAL HERO AND WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOUR GOLD MEDAL ACHIEVEMENT - CONGRATUALTIONS AND WELL DONE - YOU HAVE REALLY PUT OHOPE AND THE BAY OF PLENTY ON THE WORLD MAP !!!
