Hatchby is a self-described naturally quiet and driven competitor, and said he had always set clear goals and committed himself fully to achieving them. <\/p>\n
In March, he was selected to join Australia\u2019s Eight1 Racing Team for the WGP#1 Oceania Championships and the Australian Jet Sports Boating Association Nationals. <\/p>\n
\u201cBeing selected for the Eight1 racing team was a big achievement in itself for me, knowing that all my hard work was starting to shine through.\u201d<\/p>\n
He achieved multiple wins in the pro runabout stock class at those competitions. <\/p>\n
Later that month, he also finished runner-up on home turf at the New Zealand National Championship.<\/p>\n
Hatchby will return to Australia for the Queensland State Championship with the same team, but the world finals are his ultimate goal. <\/p>\n
The world finals have no formal qualification system. However, the high cost of the trip limits participation to top athletes. <\/p>\n
Ollie Hatchby has celebrated multiple podium finishes with the Australian\u2011based Eight1 Racing crew. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The International Jet Sports Boating Association World Final, to be held in October at Lake Havasu in Arizona, represented the highest level of competition in the sport, Hatchby said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacing at the IJSBA World Finals would mean everything to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also an opportunity to represent where I come from on an international stage, which is something I take a lot of pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hatchby said he was driven by a pursuit of improvement, continually pushing his limits.<\/p>\n
\u201dThat challenge keeps things exciting and gives me something to work toward every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said representing his team, supporters and those who believed in him gave his racing purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it comes down to passion. I genuinely enjoy the sport, the process, and the journey. That\u2019s what keeps me showing up and putting in the work, even when it\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Racing had long been a family operation, with his grandfather, mother and uncles all competing in powerboat marathons and waterski racing.<\/p>\n
His brother, Brook, also races but has not competed internationally due to work commitments.<\/p>\n
It was watching his uncle compete at the 2017 world finals in the States that got Hatchby hooked on the sport. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe support from my family has been great, coming and supporting me with every race, helping in the pits if something goes wrong, and the rivalry between my older brother and me makes racing so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the start line, his father serves as a holder, along with his brother \u2013 when he is not competing against him. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, his sister Georja also competed in pole ski classes, and his two younger siblings always followed his races on livestream.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old has set his sights on the IJSBA World Finals in Lake Havasu, Arizona.<\/p>\n
His mother, Megan Stewart, served as president of the NZ Jet Sports Boating Association, while also supporting her children on race weekends.<\/p>\n
She said watching his progression from teenage racer to an international winner has been \u201cextraordinary\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOllie set his sights on racing internationally, and his determination and hours of training have paid off.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a true testament to how, if you set your mind to it, you can achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart spoke of the logistics behind race weekends as a \u201cfull family effort\u201d. <\/p>\n
The weekends involve extensive planning, travel, time off work, accommodation, organising start\u2011line holders, and lining up mechanical support.<\/p>\n
Her own roles within the association meant she often worked through events rather than watching her children race.<\/p>\n
But when she is on the sidelines, she admitted she was the stereotypical nervous mum, jumping up and cheering each time he comes by.<\/p>\n
She said his smooth, mistake\u2011free riding earned praise in Australia, with one observer noting it almost made him boring to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cOllie\u2019s confidence has grown so much; we\u2019ve gone from this shy, quiet guy to a guy being spoken to and congratulated by everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe remains humble all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to the world finals in the United States, she said lining up there would mean everything to their family.<\/p>\n
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hatchby is a self-described naturally quiet and driven competitor, and said he had always set clear goals and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5162,299,49640,78,28372,111,139,69,46601,20296,2022,213,8690,223,3040,377],"class_list":["post-403431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-chasing","tag-dream","tag-finals","tag-in","tag-jet","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-puke","tag-racer","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-te","tag-the","tag-us","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}