Cambridge kayaker Nick Collier takes a break from studying to train on the Waikato River near the low level bridge. Photo: Steph Bell-Jenkins.
On the surface, the silver medal around Nick Collier’s neck represents a young kayaker near the top of his game, a history-making athlete, a potential Olympic champion in the making.
But underneath that glossy narrative is a story of grit and determination – one of a serious injury, training 12 times a week, holding down a part time while doing full time study – and saving money by living out of a van.
And in June, just before leaving to spend three months on the European competition circuit, Collier, 20, made a pact with himself to beat bulimia nervosa.
The New Zealand Eating Disorders Clinic says Bulimia Nervosa is a serious and dangerous eating disorder characterised by eating large amounts of food in a relatively short amount of time, followed by extreme compensatory efforts to avoid gaining weight.
The late princess Diana, Jane Fonda, Elton John and Lady Gaga have all spoken of their struggles with the disorder.
“It was tricky,” Collier said. “I just dealt with it alone for a lot of it, which I wouldn’t recommend at all.”
The eating disorder developed after he broke his back in a kayaking accident last year, just six weeks before he was due to leave for Italy with the New Zealand U23 men’s kayak cross world championship team.
The injury kept him out of his boat for six months.
“That brought on depression and bulimia, which came on from a mindset that since I wasn’t able to do exercise, anything I was eating was setting me back from the competition,” he said.
“It was kind of scary that I was able to hide it so well and I wondered who else was going through similar problems.”
Once he had healed from the compression fracture in his L2 vertebrae, Collier battled his way back to competitive fitness with support from his South Island based coach Josef Prochazka and began tackling bulimia.
“I made a pact with myself that when I was overseas I would change my ways and I did,” he said.
“I was really proud of myself.”
Originally from Alexandra in Central Otago, Collier moved to Cambridge last year after winning a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship to study at Waikato University.
He loves the town’s central location and proximity to two training bases – Okere Falls, near Rotorua, and Canoe Slalom New Zealand’s high performance training centre in Auckland.
“It’s also a high performance hub here and I just love how many people are outdoors being active,” he said. “I find it really special.”
Last month he paddled his way into New Zealand history books, winning silver in the U23 men’s kayak cross event at the junior and U23 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Krakow, Poland.
Formerly known as ‘extreme slalom’, kayak cross is a whitewater racing discipline, which Collier describes as “similar to BMX, but in kayaks”. It will feature at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
He is the first kiwi paddler to win a medal at the U23 world championships.
There was a brief flash of hope the achievement might be life changing, enabling him to access financial help.
“But unfortunately, due to the timing of High Performance Sport New Zealand’s funding cycle, the result still doesn’t allow me to receive any funding or support.”
The athlete has been living in a van since the beginning of this year to save on rent. He is also in the second year of a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in economics and strategic management.
“It gets tough, especially on the grey and cold nights – and oh my goodness there were some cold nights on the lead up to my departure for Europe.”
He usually trains alone, juggling seven river sessions and five gym sessions a week with full time study and a part-time job as a kayak tour guide at The Boatshed Kayaks at Lake Karāpiro.
But all the sacrifices are worth it for the passionate paddler.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else – it’s all worth it, it really is.”
Cambridge kayaker Nick Collier with his medal. Photo: Steph Bell-Jenkins
