Max Brown was so nervous before his first sprint canoe race for New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he took half an hour to choke down two pieces of jam toast while his teammate, Kurtis Imrie, devoured a hearty breakfast of six eggs, bacon and hash browns.
“Kurtis asked if I was okay and I ran to the rubbish bin and threw up in front of all the other Olympians,” Max told students during a visit to Karāpiro School recently.
“I was so embarrassed and it was the first thing I had to deal with on my first day of racing,” he said. “I wanted to go to my room and cry.”
Instead, Max fronted up for his K2 1000m heat with Kurtis and finished second. The pair went on to place fifth in the Olympic final.
It was a lesson in resilience, Max said – a theme he and rower Davina Waddy emphasised as they spoke to Karāpiro School students and staff.
Max Brown, left and Davina Waddy at Karapiro School.
High Performance Sport New Zealand performance life coach Daniella Cameron said the visit was one of seven to Cambridge primary schools held recently leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Max and Davina encouraged the students to dream big, saying they had both attended small country schools and taken up their Olympic sports late in life.
“If you haven’t found a sport you’re passionate about, you’ve still got time,” said Max, who said he started paddling at age 14 with some mates.
“I got in the boat and I fell out immediately on my first day of kayaking…I fell out 13 times and my friends only fell out three times – but I was more resilient than them, because once it got cold and dark, I was the only one of my friends who kept paddling through winter.”
Max Brown, left and Davina Waddy at Karapiro School.
Davina, who went to the Tokyo Olympics as a reserve and will represent Aotearoa at this year’s Paris Olympics in the first kiwi women’s four crew ever to compete in the games, took up rowing at age 18.
She told the students how, after failing to make a rowing team in 2019, it was resilience that kept her Olympic dream alive.
“If you’re gutsy and you keep showing up, you can make it to your end goal,” she said.
Max, who helped to create a song for the New Zealand Olympic team, ‘Ain’t Just Dreaming’, with fellow Cambridge Olympian Ellesse Andrews, which was released on Spotify and other major music platforms on February 29, encouraged the students to grab any opportunity that came their way.
“My goal here today is for everyone to leave feeling like you can achieve something amazing with your life,” he said.
Olympic rower Davina Waddy chats to students just before leaving.
High performance athletes Max Brown (left) and Davina Waddy encouraged students to dream big during a recent visit to Karāpiro School.
