Young Blenheim swimmer is US-bound

A dedicated swimmer has reaped the rewards of his hard work.

Finlay McNabb, a member of the Blenheim Swimming Club for the past decade, will be heading over to West Virginia, USA, on a four-year swimming and academic scholarship. The 18-year-old will swim for Davis and Elkins College; a Division 2 college that competes within the Mountain East conference. There, he will swim against other Division 2 schools in West Virginia, as well as schools in Maryland and Ohio.

Finlay feels privileged to receive such an opportunity. “I’m quite fortunate; I have an academic and an athletic scholarship, so I was really lucky to be able to get both”, he explains.

However, it was more than ‘luck’ that landed the local swim star this accolade. His gruelling training schedule consists of seven swimming sessions a week, along with three gym sessions. Preparation is important for Finlay, who leaves for the US on 4 August.

“I work casually/part time as a lifeguard at the local pool here (Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000), and I’m just trying to save up money for things I might need when I’m over there, plus just doing a bit of extra gym work and an extra swim a week when I can.”

Finlay’s recruiting process has been a long time in the works. Starting in January 2025, he worked alongside agency Platform Sport Management to locate schools that would provide an ‘appropriate fit’ for him.

This included zoom calls with coaches, emails with potential colleges, and an internal pressure to keep his grades and times up to standard.

By the time June/July had rolled around, Finlay had narrowed down his options to six schools, which he then visited in order to gauge what would be the perfect choice. Davis and Elkins stood out so, once he received and confirmed his offer in November 2025, it was an easy decision.

Davis and Elkins boasts a host of athletic teams known as the ‘Senators.’ Finlay will mainly swim middle distance races for the team, focusing on freestyle and butterfly, while also having the chance to dabble in other strokes.

Aside from his scholarship, Finlay’s proudest swimming achievements came at the NZ open swimming championships this year, where he was “really happy” to reach two B finals and a C final.

Outside of swimming, Finlay will complete a four-year Bachelor of Science degree, specialising in biology. “Hopefully I can land a nice job in a research lab, either doing marine biology research or genetic research” he adds.

The future for this Blenheim swimmer is laden with opportunity. However, Finlay claims realizes these opportunities would not have been possible without a devoted support group.

“I’d like to extend a massive thank you to both my parents, especially my mum for all the help she has given me along the way, helping me with all the visa stuff and making sure I was up early for all the 4am zoom calls with college coaches.

“I’d also like to thank Shane Skehan, my swim coach, who has helped me get to where I am today in my swimming, and Platform for helping find me a college that is right for my ability - a place where I am not the best but can definitely slot in the top group and thrive at the school.”