In A League Of Her Own Rikki's Moment History-making

A new face is featured in sky tv’s super rugby coverage!
 

- Kelly Bertrand

From the Olympics through to the Commonwealth Games, with countless world cups and championships in between, Rikki Swannell has been on the sidelines of sporting history for 15 years as one of New Zealand’s preeminent sport journalists.

But this year, the gregarious reporter has made some history of her own, becoming the first female to commentate a Super Rugby game when she took up the microphone for Sky TV.

While the sports fanatic understands the interest around her achievement, Rikki (37) would have just preferred the milestone to pass with no fanfare at all – instead, she just wants to be thought of as being good at her job simply for being good at it, rather than “for being a woman”.

“Oh, the whole thing’s a bit strange!” she laughs.

“I would have quite happily just slipped in and done that without it becoming a public thing. I’m sure I’ll look back on it and have some pride with that part of it, but for me, it’s more about having pride in getting to that level with people thinking I have enough ability to do it.”