World champion kayaker Tara Vaughan may well be a poster child for non-specialisation in sports.

In fact, it’s worth noting that the 19-year-old - part of the New Zealand women’s K4 that won a historic world title in Germany last month - was at the Zespri AIMS Games for the first time this week.

Back when she was at Murrays Bay Intermediate, she was gutted to miss out on the AIMS Games netball team… but she stuck with netball, touch, basketball and surf lifesaving, before eventually ending up in kayaking.

“AIMS is such a cool opportunity to test out sports and see what you like,” says Vaughan, one of a number of champion senior sportspeople at AIMS this week.

“You’ve just got to keep trying and keep doing everything, despite not being good enough.”

With younger sister India competing in canoe racing on the Pilot Bay venue, and playing hockey this week, Vaughan is getting to see plenty of what she missed out on.

She’s also seen how excited her sister is by the tournament.

“She was sleeping in her uniform the night before she came, she was so excited to come. It’s so cool being here with my sister and seeing that she's having the absolute best time.”

World champion kayaker Tara Vaughan and Olympic rowing gold medalist Michael Brake at the Zespri AIMS Games canoe racing in Pilot Bay this week.  Photo by Michael Bradley/AIMS Media.

Vaughan says there’s always been challenging moments throughout her sporting career.

“Putting pressure on myself in racing has always been a challenge but I’m lucky to have such a good team around me that helps us work together and work through everything.

“You just have to keep going and keep having fun.”

Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medal-winning rower Michael Brake was also imparting tips to young athletes this week, watching the Rip Rugby and presenting medals at the canoe racing.

“It was epic seeing the small kids in the boats that were too big for them. Seeing them getting stuck into it was pretty awesome.”

Brake says the one piece of advice he would give the young athletes is to “stay in touch with your mates”.

“I’ve got a wedding coming up and all of my groomsmen will be the guys I rowed with in high school. We’ve all stayed in touch and have those rich memories.”

Black Sticks hockey star Megan Hull has been an amazingly positive presence at the Zespri AIMS Games this week.  Photo by Dave Lintott/AIMS Media.

Black Sticks star Megan Hull, meanwhile, spoke to young hockey athletes after their matches and said: “It’s exciting to see everyone out there giving it a go”.

Her one key message for the younger generation was: “It doesn’t matter if you’re the best, it’s about giving it your best”.

She also said it was “cool to see so many participants in such a variety of sports”.

“I remember when I was that age being involved in around six to seven different sports, meeting so many different people and being part of a team. It’s so valuable.”