Striking a balance between swords and smarts

Growing up in Christchurch, Natalie started fencing at 11 years old, having been introduced to the sport by her father who was also a professional fencer and an Olympian in his younger days.

“Dad was my first coach and I’m truly grateful for him. I wouldn’t be where I am in fencing without him,” Natalie says.

It was Natalie’s early achievements, including winning the New Zealand secondary school championships in her first year of high school and the New Zealand national championships in year 11, that she says motivated her to aim for an international stage.

“They helped me push my limits and surpass my own expectations. In the last two years, I’ve won an individual bronze medal and silver team medal at the Asian Zonal Fencing Championships, and more recently, I finished eighth place with my team at the World Fencing Championships.”

The 26-year-old says working with a sports psychologist helped her move away from wanting to quit fencing near the end of high school.

“Experiencing the transformative effects of psychological interventions on my own performance and mindset sparked my interest in psychology. I became fascinated by the knowledge in this field, so I decided to study it and continue what I could while fencing in New Zealand, before taking the opportunity to train and fence in Hong Kong.”

Now based in Hong Kong, Natalie studies via distance and says while there are challenges, discipline and flexibility are what help her through.

“While I do miss some facets of in-person learning, I love the flexibility distance study with Massey allows. Especially for rewatching content, as it makes it less stressful when learning new concepts. I’ll often replay lectures in the background when I’m cooling down and recovery stretching to refresh my mind. It’s also nice being able to bring everything offline when I’m travelling on airplanes so I can keep reading and working on assignments. I make sure to get on Stream as often as possible when I’m not busy with training.”

Natalie made the move to full-time study while training full-time during COVID-19, which she says ended up being the best decision.

“When I got to the end of the year, I was so grateful I chose to focus on my studies because I ended up not competing for a whole year, so studying psychology was good for my mental health. It also allowed me to engage with an amazing online community of students who were all so supportive and willing to learn.”

Planning and getting support from the university are two other factors that Natalie says helps her to balance her athletic and academic career.

“It was a steep learning curve at first and I thought I could be consistent with the way I study regardless of my training and competition schedule. I’ve now realised it’s nearly impossible for me to mentally focus on any academic work a week leading up to a competition, so planning is key. If I have tests or assignments due, I’ll move them so they don’t clash with the preparation I need for a competition. The course coordinators are always so understanding and willing to work around my schedule, and I have to thank Sport Massey for all the support and interest they’ve shown towards my student athlete career!”

Natalie recently attended the World University Games held in China and says it was special getting to represent Hong Kong in fencing.

“I spent the first two years of my life in Hong Kong before moving to New Zealand, so being able to come back to my roots and immerse myself in the culture and language while doing something I love is a real blessing. I feel Hong Kong is such a unique place to represent in the sporting world, particularly as fencing has become to Hong Kong what rugby is to New Zealand in the four years I’ve been training and competing there. We are really making a mark on an international level and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.”

Being the first ‘games’ event Natalie participated in, she says she had many great moments living in the village and being surrounded by different athletes.

“A big highlight was attending the closing ceremony and watching a reel of all the achievements and competitions that happened during the 12 days. It put into perspective how many students are in the same boat and chasing their sporting dream. The fencing competition was very intense and high-level, with most of the competition pool being people I’m familiar with from other international competitions. It was interesting because we’re all full-time athletes and students, so there was a tough mental game you could feel during each match. Everyone knows how tough it is to be a student athlete and there was no room for making mistakes during a match.”

Following the World University Games, Natalie has gone on to break history for Hong Kong at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou by bringing home a silver medal in the team event. With this being her first time attending the Asian Games, Natalie says she’s overjoyed with this result, especially as it was a tight match with Korea who are ranked first in the world and took the gold, finishing with a score of 36-34.

Natalie is now focused on finishing the last few competitions needed to qualify for the Paris Olympics by March next year, while also balancing finishing up her degree in June. She says she hopes to become a sports psychologist in the future so she can use her knowledge and experience to help other athletes reach their goals and fulfil their potential.