Reece Cobb does not have a standard teenage daily routine.

The 16-year-old New Zealand gymnast, who has her eye on next year's Paris Olympics, trains six days – about 24 hours – a week while being a full-time Year 12 student.

On this particular Tuesday, Reece started her day with a quick breakfast of peanut butter and banana on toast.

She then had two school classes, fried eggs on toast for morning tea, another two classes, a bacon salad for lunch, another two classes, and then gymnastics – for four hours.

She will get back to her Mount Maunganui home sometime after 8pm, have dinner – steak and salad is her favourite – a massage-gun and ice her tired muscles, shower, and then head to bed.

'And then repeat the next day,” says Reece, with a laugh.

'I like to have the same routine, especially before competitions. I like to eat the same food as well, because I know that it helps me.”

Mount Maunganui teenager Reece Cobb started gymnastics at age five. Photo: Scott Yeoman.

Last year Reece took part in international competitions in Germany, Qatar, Australia, and England.

She recently finished second overall at the 2023 Artistic Oceania Championships on the Gold Coast in Australia, where she earned a spot to compete at the 2023 Artistic World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium later this year.

If she does well in Belgium, Reece could qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics – a lifelong dream of hers.

Mount Maunganui gymnast Reece Cobb has been coached by Ebony Matenga since the age of five. Photo: Scott Yeoman.

She started gymnastics at age five and has been working with the same coach at Impact Gymsport Academy in Mount Maunganui from the very beginning.

'When we first opened the gym, we held a trial to get into our competitive programme,” says Impact head coach Ebony Matenga.

‘Right, you're in!'

A five-year-old Reece turned up to that trial. Ebony says she had her initial doubts but decided to test her strength anyway.

'I put her up on the bar and she just whacked out all these chin ups and I was like: ‘Right, you're in!'” says Ebony.

Reece says she can thank her mum for getting her into gymnastics.

'Mum said I was a bit crazy at home. So, she kind of just had to put me in because I was just jumping everywhere.”

Reece and Ebony have been working together ever since and have a close bond.

'It's like having your own kid,” says Ebony, with a laugh.

Mount Maunganui gymnast Reece Cobb has been coached by Ebony Matenga since the age of five. Photo: Scott Yeoman.

Reece briefly moved to Wellington two-and-a-half years ago to train with other New Zealand senior international gymnasts and work with coach Tracy Sharp.

She moved back home to Mount Maunganui at the start of this year.

Reece and Ebony train Monday to Saturday every single week, including public holidays.

They do a lot of strength and conditioning work, including at the University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance in Mount Maunganui. They also work closely with a physiotherapy clinic.

The focus most of the time, however, is on the four apparatuses used in women's artistic gymnastics – vault, bars, beam, and floor.

Reece and Ebony recently travelled to Auckland five Saturdays-in-a-row, leaving Tauranga at 5.30am, to train in a specialist foam pit and test more difficult skills.

Reece Cobb spends 24 hours a week practising gymnastics around being a full-time student. Photo: Scott Yeoman.

Reece says Ebony knows how to get the best out of her.

'She knows how to push me because she wants me to be the best. She pushes me because she knows I can do well. And so, if I'm not doing something correct, she pushes me because she knows I can do it better.”

Fiery and determined

Ebony says Reece has 'always been quite fiery”.

'She works in a different way. She's just determined, she always has been. You don't even have to be the most talented, but you have to have grit and determination. You either have it or you don't. And the people that do have it usually are the ones that make it further.”

Ebony says Reece also has the ability to bounce back from disappointments and keep focused on her long-term goals.

'She only won her first ever nationals last year. She went to her first nationals when she was nine. To come back every year and not give up…most kids would probably not be able to handle that. I mean, I probably wouldn't.”

That's why Ebony firmly believes Reece can achieve her dream and go all the way to the Olympics.

'I feel like she has a good chance. If she wants to train hard enough, she can get there. I think if you want something so bad, you'll do whatever you can to get it. But it's also important to have balance because she's 16.”

Having balance

Reece is also aware of the importance of having balance in her life and says she's still, in many ways, a 'normal teenager”.

She likes to hang out with friends, go to the beach, shopping, swimming, or to Pilates.

Reece Cobb spends 24 hours a week practising gymnastics around being a full-time student. Photo: Scott Yeoman.

She's made plenty of sacrifices over the years for her gymnastics. Reece does her schooling remotely online so she can focus on her training schedule and routine, and says she misses seeing friends in between classes.

'But then I also think, ‘why? Why am I doing this? Because I want to achieve my goals. It's worth it'. And I can hang out with them after gym.”

Reece says gymnastics is a hard sport and she likes having that challenge in her everyday life, as well as all opportunities it provides her with.

Ebony says gymnastics prepares people for a lot more than just a life of competition.

'You not only learn gymnastics, but you learn valuable life lessons – self-discipline, self-motivation, self-accountability, doing things for yourself. That's what gymnastics is, because it's you against yourself.”