The doting parents of Whakatōhea descendant Kayla Imrie have won a free ticket to the Olympics. Thanks to Volkswagen, they will get a free ticket to watch their daughter perform with the NZ K4 Women's Kayaking crew at Rio.
The ultimate thank you from a daughter.
Kayla Imrie entered her parents in a family give-away competition sponsored by NZ Olympic partner Volkswagen.
Kayla’s mother Lynette Imrie says, “We wanted to go and we were trying to organise it but we hadn't quite got there so it was so exciting, we didn't know it was coming. It was huge, it was a very exciting day.”
The first-time Olympian is currently in Portugal training alongside her K4 team, Aimee Fisher, Caitlin Ryan and Jamie Lovett, for the upcoming world cup in Germany this month.
“She says it's really cold so they're doing really hard training, they've been doing quite intense training. I think and then on Sunday they head to Germany, they race next weekend”, says Lynette.
They hope to secure another podium at the World Cup 1 this month in Germany before heading to Rio where mum and dad will be cheering as they take on the world's best in August.
Lynette says the team has a strong bond, “The K4 team are a really good bunch of girls and they really work hard and they have quite a unity. They pull together they support each other and it's really nice to see and I think that's what makes them the team that they are.”