Mount gymnast chasing her Olympic dream

On this particular Tuesday, Reece started her day with a quick breakfast of peanut butter and banana on toast. She then had two school classes, fried eggs on toast for morning tea, another two classes, a bacon salad for lunch, another two classes, and then gymnastics – for four hours. She will get back to her Mount Maunganui home sometime after 8pm, have dinner – steak and salad is her favourite – a massage-gun and ice her tired muscles, shower, and then head to bed.

“And then repeat the next day,” says Reece, with a laugh. “I like to have the same routine, especially before competitions. I like to eat the same food as well, because I know that it helps me.”

Last year Reece took part in international competitions in

Germany, Qatar, Australia, and England.

She recently nished second overall at the 2023 Artistic Oceania Championships on the Gold Coast in Australia, where she earned a spot to compete at the 2023 Artistic World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium later this year. If she does well in Belgium, Reece could qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics – a lifelong dream of hers. She started gymnastics at age ve and has been working with the same coach at Impact Gymsport Academy in Mount Maunganui from the very beginning.

“When we rst opened the gym, we held a trial to get into our competitive programme,” says Impact head coach Ebony Matenga.

‘Right, you’re in!’

A ve-year-old Reece turned up to that trial. Ebony says she had her initial doubts but decided to test her strength anyway.

“I put her up on the bar and she just whacked out all these chin ups and I was like: ‘Right, you’re in!’” says Ebony.

Reece says she can thank her mum for getting her into gymnastics. “Mum said I was a bit crazy at home. So, she kind of just had to put me in because I was just jumping everywhere.” ey do a lot of strength and conditioning work, including at the University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance in Mount Maunganui. ey also work closely with a physiotherapy clinic. e focus most of the time, however, is on the four apparatuses used in women’s artistic gymnastics – vault, bars, beam, and oor.

Reece and Ebony have been working together ever since and have a close bond.

“It’s like having your own kid,” says Ebony, with a laugh.

Reece briefly moved to Wellington two-and-a-half years ago to train with other New Zealand senior international gymnasts and work with coach Tracy Sharp.

She moved back home to Mount Maunganui at the start of this year.

Reece and Ebony train Monday to Saturday every single week, including public holidays.

Reece and Ebony recently travelled to Auckland ve Saturdays-in-a-row, leaving Tauranga at 5.30am, to train in a specialist foam pit and test more di cult skills.

Reece says Ebony knows how to get the best out of her.

“She knows how to push me because she wants me to be the best. She pushes me because she knows I can do well. And so, if I’m not doing something correct, she pushes me because she knows I can do it better.”

Fiery and determined

Ebony says Reece has “always been quite ery”. “She works in a di erent way. She’s just determined, she always has been. You don’t even have to be the most talented, but you have to have grit and determination. You either have it or you don’t. And the people that do have it usually are the ones that make it further.”

Ebony says Reece also has the ability to bounce back from disappointments and keep focused on her long-term goals.

“She only won her rst ever nationals last year. She went to her rst nationals when she was nine. To come back every year and not give up…most kids would probably not be able to handle that. I mean, I probably wouldn’t.” at’s why Ebony rmly believes Reece