Barbara Kendall recounts

On Wednesday 29 August we were lucky to hear a speech from the Olympian Barbara Kendall.

Here are Brayden and Michael’s recount of Barbara’s speech.

Barbara Kendall’s speech

Yesterday Barbara Kendall came to our school, she had a speech in the hall, she came because we are learning about the Olympics. 

First she talked about the Olympic torch and surprisingly she even brought one to show us. The whole school got to touch it and she said “there are 4 gold medals in New Zealand but only one Olympic torch.” Next she told us what shapes and sizes the athletes need to be to do their sport. Then she talked about the Olympic village. She said that it is like a school with lots of schools in it (that are the different countries) and the food hall is big as an normal hall x by 6.

Then she talked about her childhood. She said that her parents weren’t encouraging even when she wanted to get her boat out of the water. Then she wanted to do a water sport and she chose windsurfing. She started to windsurf, then she went to a windsurfing competition but she came second to last. Then she got better and got chosen to go to the Olympics and she won gold then silver then bronze then 4^th then 5^th then 6th .Then it was the end of the speech then she left.

It was awesome to meet a real New Zealand athlete and to touch the Olympic torch.

By Michael

Barbara Kendall’s Speech

On the 29^th of August the whole school got sent to the hall because a special Olympian was coming to talk to us.

First our class sat down and everyone tried to guess who it might be. Most people thought it was going to be Valerie Adams. When the Olympian started walking in everyone started clapping and cheering but I didn’t because I didn’t know who was walking in. Next when the athlete was on the stage I could see her very easily, but I didn’t know who it was, I had never seen her before.

Then she introduced herself, her name was Barbara Kendall and she is a famous windsurfer. After introducing herself she started to talk about the Olympic torch. It has 8,ooo holes which stands for the 8,ooo athletes that have run with it! Then she told us about the triangle on the top of the Olympic torch she said  the triangle on the top stands for how many times London has held the Olympics. Next she gave the whole school permission to hold the Olympic torch. It took a long time to get to me but it was worth it!

Then she asked us some questions about the different athletes. She also told us about the first Olympic sport and how they did it, it was wrestling and they had to do it naked!

Next she talked about the Olympic village and how you know which country they play for. To tell which country that person comes from you look at their uniform for example if they come from New Zealand they would wear black and white.

After that she told us about her childhood and how she started to like windsurfing. First she started to like canoeing, rowing and kayaking. Then a few years later she wanted to join a competition but she couldn’t get a boat because they are too expensive. So she tried joining a wind surfing competition but she wasn’t very good at it. So she started practising and a few years later she joined another competition and she got bronze!

When she left we quickly gave her back the Olympic torch. I really want another Olympian to come to our school because having Barbra Kendall over was awesome!

By Brayden