By Rebecca Bull, RNZ Social Media Journalist
Growing up, Luke Street seemingly excelled in any physical pursuit he touched or tapped his toes to.
Now, at 15 years old, he has the chance to qualify for world championships in two very different events: speed ice skating and Irish dancing.
And that was after dropping two other sports - trampolining and cycling - in which he was at national level.
Luke Street competing in short-track speed skating. Photo: Alexey Kutovoy
The Christchurch teenager, who attended Hillmorton High School, had his sights set on next year's junior world championships in short-track speed ice skating - held in Canada - and Irish dance, in Dublin.
"[The] current goal is to qualify," Luke told RNZ, rink-side at one of his training sessions.
Luke trained for speed skating after school on Mondays and Fridays, and dance Tuesdays and Thursdays. He aimed to get all his homework done during school hours, to make time for practice, he said.
In speed skating, Luke had two opportunities to qualify for junior world championships: the nationals in Dunedin from 6-8 September, and the Australian nationals in October.
To qualify for the 500m event, he needed to skate a second faster than his current pace of 48.2sec. Luke was currently the fourth-ranked youth skater in New Zealand.
Luke Street (number 146) at the 2024 World Irish Dance competition in Glasgow. Photo: Kendra Street
Meanwhile, Luke had been to two World Irish Dance championships: Montreal in 2023 and Glasgow earlier this year - both times placing 42nd.
Luke was a two-time national champion in the boys' 13 to under 15 grade. This year, he would move up to the 15 to under 17 grade, performing a hornpipe, a reel, and his set dance, "Vanishing Lake".
First pair of skates
So how did one young athlete become so successful in a range of events?
Luke strapped on his first pair of skates at the age of 2, and started speed skating around 5 - following in the footsteps of his speed-skating mum Kendra and ice dancer dad Chris.
He stepped into the dance scene around the age of 11, as a way to stay fit.
"My skating coach at the time said I needed something cardiovascular ... [and my] dance school had a boys-only class just down the road from my house.
"We did that and it just sort of skyrocketed ever since and I got good at it."
Luke soon had to juggle his new love for dance with other sporting commitments.
He started trampolining aged 4, mainly because his mum worked at the gym, and went to the nationals "quite a few times".
Luke had also done road and track cycling since getting on the bike seriously around age 11. "It was mainly when my feet could reach the pedals." He still competed in inter-schools events.
Now, the aim was not to get too "stressed out" over managing it all, he said.
"Juggling school and sport is interesting, [and] juggling sport and sport is interesting. But I don't know, I figure out a good schedule and I go with it."
Luke Street (centre) competing in short-track speed skating. Photo: Alexey Kutovoy
Luke's mum Kendra told RNZ rink-side she did not usually come to practices.
A former speed skating coach for New Zealand - she immigrated from Canada, and coached at the 2002 Winter Olympics - Kendra found it difficult not to offer advice.
But looking on, smiling, she said she "couldn't be more proud" of her son.
"He's a bit of a perfectionist, which means that he wants to be good at everything. Currently, he's actually doing a pretty good job.
"But [I am] just stoked, he's such a good kid. As long as he's doing his best, we can't ask for more than that."
Kendra joked she might need to stop introducing Luke to new sports. Ice-time for speed-skating training alone - shared with other racers - tallied in the hundreds per hour, not including travel expenses for competing.
She was seeking sponsors or grants to help fund Luke's overseas competitions, saying "any and all assistance is greatly appreciated".
For now, they would let Luke decide which sports he wanted to pursue, and would support him however they could.
Luke himself was torn on his future direction.
"I do definitely think I need to like pick something sooner rather than later because I'm getting to the age where it's like if I don't focus on something now, I'm not going to be as good when I'm at competitive age," he said.
"I'd like to do skating - but Irish dancing and cycling, it's like, I enjoy them too so it's just hard."
