Five-time Olympian and the owner of a complete set of Olympic medals, Barbara Kendall still has that smile and laugh that endeared her to the nation over two decades ago.
Her gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona Games was the country's only gold that Olympics. Adding to that historic outing, there hadn't been a New Zealand female gold medal winner since long jumper Yvette Williams 40 years before.
Kendall quickly became a golden girl on and off the water. Her contagious smile and the pictures of her being carried up the boat ramp by the New Zealand crew would win the prize for being the memorable moment of the games.
She says the moment was total chaos.
"I just sort of felt like it was happening to somebody else and it was a very out of body experience. I remember coming down to the ramp and Ralph Roberts, who was the chef de mission of the team that year, said 'jump on your board and we'll carry you out' and I went 'oh, OK'.
"I remember being overwhelmed and just thinking 'look at this all happening to me'."
Adding to the feeling, her brother Bruce Kendall had just finished fourth in his campaign, having already won a bronze and gold medal in '84 and '88.
"So it was like I was really, really happy and just like 'wow, this is amazing', and then like 'oh my god, poor Bruce,' you know?
"So it was a real paradox."
Kendall herself almost didn't make it to the start line after an almost career-ending wrist break.
"I got run over by a motor boat's propeller... So I was rushed to the hospital, then had to go and see a specialist and the specialist was like 'Barbara, I don't know if you're going to be able to windsurf again'."
But in her no-nonsense way she chose not to believe them.
"I thought 'no I can't be this unlucky', and within eight weeks when the cast came off, I was able to get back on the board and sort of limp my way around a course and then just got stronger, won the Olympic trials and then got the spot to represent New Zealand."
It started an incredible five Olympic appearances for Kendall, who completed her medal set with a silver in Atlanta and a bronze in Sydney.
The medals aren't on display at her home. In fact, she had to dig around a bit in a high cupboard to reach them.
The easy-going Kendall said only a house fire where they had 10 minutes to grab what they could made her think she should find a better place to put them. They now are kept in a safe.
She told Stokes the Barcelona gold has been re-dipped in gold several times over the decades.
"The gold on the outside of the medal had got worn off by people handling it. Because it was the only gold medal that year, it sort of went everywhere with me."
And if she had to rank the medals — the first one means the most.
"Probably Barcelona which is quite cliché, but because obviously, it's gold, but that sort of started off everything you know it was. That was sort of like launching into a whole new sphere of what... you know, once you won, it changed my life."
Kendall said she still loves the water.
These days she's taken up winging, which is a smaller board and involves foiling.
She competed in the nationals recently – "just for fun," she adds repeatedly.
"But how'd you go?" I asked.
"I won the weekend racing."
And her big laugh erupts and the winning smile still shines as brightly as it ever did.
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