Triathlete Aaron Barclay has won the Southland Junior Sportsperson of the Year award.
The 2010/11 Southland Sports Awards were presented at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill, with Barclay up against five other nominees in his category.
The awards covered a 15-month period to allow for the introduction of a new qualification period, including Barclay's gold medal win at the Youth Olympics last year.
Barclay, a former competitive swimmer, made the transition into triathlon several years ago and has already enjoyed huge success.
In 2008 he won the U16 National Secondary Schools title, and raced for New Zealand for the first time at the Oceania Champs on the Gold Coast in 2009 where he finished fifth in the 16-19 age group.
In 2010 he again won the U19 National Secondary Schools and qualified for the U19 elite team for World Champs.
Barclay went on to race at the first ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and won the gold medal, then raced in the teams event for Oceania and won silver.
The nominees:
Aaron Barclay (triathlon): A member of Triathlon New Zealand's 2016 Olympic Games development squad, Barclay was the only New Zealander to win a gold medal at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Barclay also won silver in the mixed teams relay at the same event. The Riversdale athlete was the New Zealand under-19 schools champion and fifth among the junior men at the Oceania championships.
Jenna McKenzie (small-bore rifle shooting): McKenzie had to compete over three events in Sydney to qualify for the inaugural Youth Olympics but she made no race of it, winning all three. Going into the Singapore event she was ranked 19th, making her 13th placing a credible achievement.
Hayden Cohen (rowing): Cohen was part of the men's quadruple sculls who won bronze at the junior world championships in the Czech Republic. He also won silver medals in the under-21 single and double at the 2011 national rowing championships and bronze in the men's under-21 quad.
Pieter Bulling (cycling): Competing in his first junior world championships, Bulling earned two fourths and a seventh in his three events. He was also selected in the New Zealand elite squad for the first time, competing in the Melbourne leg of the World Cup series. At national level Bulling won five medals, including two golds, at the New Zealand track championships, and two titles at the Oceania championships.
Todd Swanson (athletics): Swanson is the best triple jumper in the country, senior or junior. His winning jump at the 2011 national championship was the longest by a New Zealander for some time. Other titles won include the Capital Classic and Cooks Classic, while he was third in the under-20 and third in the senior triple jump at the Oceania Championships in Cairns.
Vaughan McCall (golf): McCall has set new standards for Southland golf, finally breaking the drought of Southlanders gaining New Zealand representation. Among his achievements for the past season were wins at the South Island amateur strokeplay and North Island under-19 championships, along with a fourth-equal finish at the Australian amateur championships in Melbourne.
