. Some Italian guys got it now. We need the Kiwis to get that one back.”
The idea for Out of My League came from watching elite athletes go about their business, he says.
“Like a bobsled, what’s the guy at the front doing? He’s just sitting there. Surely, I could do that?
“In reality, as you push the bobsled down the ice in the first three metres, you’ve probably slipped over and chipped your teeth. So instead of thinking it, I thought what a fun idea to actually pull up your Stubbies and give it a crack.”
Jordan Watson with New Zealand’s all-time leading try-scorer, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.
Supplied
Not everyone shares Watson’s confidence. While he thought kayaking would only require him to “just sit there and start paddling”, Dame Lisa Carrington told him he’d have trouble staying upright, let alone out-paddling her, he says.
It turns out kayaks are “very tippy” and they had to put the 6-foot, 100 kilo Watson in a kayak more suited to heavier loads.
“No chance of racing her in her K1 version, which if you sneeze or look at it the wrong way, you’re in the water. So we slightly had to modify some of these head-to-head battles, I’m a big rig.”
Taking on Olympians: “How to Dad” star gets sporty Afternoons
Just how hard could it be to throw a javelin?
Supplied
He might be a big rig, but that didn’t faze rugby legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, New Zealand’s all-time leading try-scorer, when they went head-to-head.
“She actually scared me as we got there to interview her at the start of the day. And she quietly says to my wife, the producer, ‘Hey, how hard can we tackle today’?”
She was serious, he says.
“She goes, ‘mate, you’re not scary to me, you’re not big… there’s female centres out there that are just as big as you.’ She was not joking at all.”
How hard can it be to throw the big pointy stick further than your opponent? Olympic javelin thrower Tori Moorby brought Watson down to earth with a bump.
“You look at it, it’s beautiful and spherical and it should go straight. Mine was coming out fully sideways, over and over.
“She says it’s very common that you’ll hit yourself in the back of the head, if you let it go the wrong way, the tail will get you in the head.”
Jordan Watson squeezes into cycling lycra and hurtles around the Cambridge Velodrome against Olympic Gold medalist Ellesse Andrews.
Supplied
The “wannabe athlete” also took on Olympic speed climber Sarah Tetzlaff in a frantic race up a 15-metre climbing wall, Olympic swimmer Erika Fairweather in a 50m freestyle showdown and Olympic Gold medalist Ellesse Andrews on the velodrome.
“This has been six pinch-yourself moments. Training with, competing against, and hearing stories from these legends—it’s dream stuff. I’m tired, sore, but I’ll be buzzing for a long time yet.”
Out of My League is a six-part web series streaming on RNZ Video and YouTube from today.
Taking on Olympians: “How to Dad” star gets sporty Afternoons
