Kaitangata dairy farmer Shannon Miller, 30, is a national pole dancing champion who wants to highlight what she calls a "new age" of strength and agility.
Mrs Miller received first place in the expert category at the New Zealand Amateur Pole Performer championships in Auckland on November 10.
Mrs Miller, her husband Marty and their four children live and farm on a 320-cow dairy farm near Kaitangata.
Mrs Miller first got into the sport four years ago after seeing a photo of a woman pole dancing.
"I nearly instantly added a transportable pole to my cart.
"I was really excited to give it a go, not realising just how incredibly demanding and physical it was."
She trains for two hours most nights and takes the pole to different places including the beach and the river for different scenery.
"There is a lot of conditioning and flexibility involved in perfecting pole."
Hearing about competitive pole dancing, she signed up and within a couple of months she was a national champion.
"I did not expect to win at all. I felt like I had impostor syndrome.
"Right after I had won, I came back home and went straight back into milking the cows and working on the farm.
"It’s still hard to process the win because we’re right in the busy season on the farm — but I’m thrilled."
Mrs Miller urges people to look past the "dirty" stigma of pole dancing and hopes people can accept it as an enduring sport.
"I’ve had experiences where it has been hard to continue with pole dancing because of how other people’s mindsets are.
"But I’ve never been as strong physically as I am now.
"Pole is such an incredible sport, and it’s really empowering. It really is a new age of sport, and it’s becoming more popular in the country."
