The only bars in Chubby Hale’s life these days are the crossbars and handlebars of the bike she rides every day in the hope of making it to the next Olympics.

But less than a year ago, this talented young sportswoman was a bar-hopping party-girl with a passion for binge drinking that became so extreme, she ended up having her gall bladder removed.

Chubby (20), whose real name is Lizita although she’s been known by her nickname since she was a baby, developed a taste for alcohol towards the end of her school days. But it wasn’t until she moved from Whangarei to Hamilton to study for a Diploma in Sport and Recreation at Waikato University that her partying got excessive.

Living in a flat in Hamilton with other young people, heavy drinking became a way of life, with a contest called “Scrumpy Hands” becoming one of the students’ favourite drinking games. It involved taping 1.25 litre bottles of apple cider to their hands and not removing them until both bottles had been consumed.

“You can’t even untape them to go to the toilet,” Chubby explains. “You can’t text or open the door and it’s a competition to be the fi rst to fi nish. I often won. I like to win.” Her competitive qualities might help her dream of becoming an Olympic cyclist in 2012, but as a student it only led to trouble.

Looking back, Chubby is shocked at how much damage she did to herself during her time as a new student. Although she was aware of how unhealthy her lifestyle was, Chubby says she just didn’t care. “I thought, ‘I’m young. I’m bullet-proof. I can do what I want.’ We would have friends over to our house twice a week and we would drink heaps before we went to town.

Then we’d drink more in town. Some nights I would black out,” she says. went to town. Another night I drank half a bottle of vodka before leaving the house.”

Having been a promising young cyclist in Northland, Chubby started taking her cycling seriously again in Hamilton and her coach urged her to give up drinking for three months before an important race. “But once that race was over I started drinking again,” she says. “I went for a holiday in Queenstown and drank nonstop for 10 days from 11am until late.”

When she returned to Hamilton, Chubby had another two big boozy nights and then, a week later, her bingeing finally caught up with her. Suddenly wracked with stomach pains, Chubby thought she was suffering from severe indigestion – but nothing seemed to ease the waves of pain.

“I was in agony for three days. My doctor diagnosed a stomach ulcer but the medicine didn’t work, so I went back and they said it was just indigestion. The medication still didn’t work and I was ringing my mum and dad in Whangarei, screaming, ‘There’s something wrong with me – I’m dying!’”

Back at hospital, another doctor also suspected indigestion. It wasn’t until her sister, who works for a surgeon, was able to arrange a scan for Chubby, that the cause of her pain was finally established. She had an inflamed and infected gall bladder, which doctors believe was partly caused by her alcohol abuse.

She was hospitalised that night and, six weeks later, Chubby’s damaged gall bladder was removed. “Doctors said it was a combination of drinking, a bad diet of cheap food, like noodles and baked beans, and hereditary factors that led to the surgery,” she says.  “That was the turning point for me. I gave up drinking excessively. I never wanted to feel that pain again.”

Despite her ordeal, Chubby says she doesn’t want to deter other young people from enjoying alcohol in moderation. “You’ve got to have fun while you’re young but don’t do it for a long time. Learn to slow down,” she warns.

Although Chubby’s binge drinking was out of control, she says it was due to peer pressure rather than alcohol addiction. “I didn’t need or crave alcohol. But all the people around me were doing it.”

Since quitting booze and cutting out fatty, unhealthy foods, Chubby’s cycling career has taken off. Next month she will be taking part in two events during Bike Wise month, and was recently placed third in the K1 Women’s Elite cycle race and the Northland road cycling championships.

Now, with her sights firmly set on making the New Zealand Olympic team, Chubby is determined to stay on track. “If I go out now I might have only one drink,” she says, “but I still have fun.”

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