Although she was born in New Zealand and is studying medicine in Dunedin, her
father is a native islander and she has “heaps of family” there. “We’ve been
going back every year since I was two,” she said. “I’ve got all my relatives
over there — cousins, uncles and my grandma.”
Nicholas’s world ranking would almost certainly be higher if she had the time
and money to compete on the full international circuit, though a grant of
£800 a month from the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity
fund has eased the strain on her finances and she was able to travel to
Europe for two World Cup events earlier this summer.
“There’s not a lot of money in the Cook Islands. It’s really hard for them to
send athletes to the Olympics. It’s a pretty poor country, but that doesn’t
seem to matter to people there. A lot of them still live off the land.
“Technology is obviously getting more into the bigger islands, but it’s not
such a big part of their life. It’s more about focusing on the family and
the outdoors. Family is a massive part of Cook Island life.”
Few know that better than Nicholas. She is coached by her 22-year-old brother,
Bryden, a useful paddler who has half an eye on qualifying for the Olympics
himself. “He’s good,” is the verdict from his little sister.
Nicholas insists there are other Cook Island athletes who could make it to
London — a flat-water canoeist, a sailor; maybe a boxer and a runner. And
what she wouldn’t give to be marching alongside them at the opening ceremony
in a year’s time.
“The Olympics are really important to the Cook Islands,” she said. “The main
industry there is tourism, so for people who don’t know about the country,
it’s giving us global exposure – showing the world we exist.”
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