By Rachel Morton
New Zealand has a new spelling champion, following a competition held in Wellington this afternoon.
The winner will go on to represent New Zealand at the World Championships in Washington DC.
Rangitoto student Wayne Lim was confident and hopeful as he walked on stage for the finals of the New Zealand Spelling Bee, and he had every reason to be – cruising through the first few rounds.
“I like to joke, so that helps to keep me calm. I just try to joke with them and make banter,” Wayne told 3 News.
He made it through to the giddy heights of the final four before the dreaded bell rang. The word was Vertiginous, meaning to suffer from vertigo.
Though he spelled it incorrectly and was eliminated from the Spelling Bee, Wayne says he has no regrets.
“It was fun while it lasted,” he said.
The final two Celine Kao from Hamilton and Tom Winter battled it out for five rounds – before Celine was given the word Circuitous and found the same fate as Wayne.
The winning word was dissonant, meaning harsh toned, which was music to the Tom’s ears.
He will now go to Washington to represent New Zealand in the World Championships.
“I can pretty safely say that I won’t be the winner so it will probably just be good to go to America, I think that’ll be the main point for me,” he says.
Tom promises to put up a good fight.
The competition today was high pressure and there was drama – one competitor broke down in tears after being eliminated and refused to go on stage to receive their participation medal.
But for Tom there was only smiles – now he has just two-and-a-half months to study the 5kg dictionary he won today.
3 News