'At what age did you decide you wanted to be a professional swimmer and why?'

 

“At the age of 8. I was picked out of the pool from my current coach Roly Crichton and had the opportunity to represent New Zealand later on in life from what he saw with the talent in the pool. But at the age of ten I had a go when my grandad was quite ill with cancer having that goal obviously pursued me to get into the pool and push for my dreams”. 

 

 

 

'How important have your friends and family been in terms of realising your dreams?'

 

'Very important. Obviously very supportive of what I do and they pushed me through those hard times,  we have a few of those when the training gets hard or trying to motivate ourselves can be hard on our own so having mum, dad and especially living with them very good through the early morning starts.'

 

 

 

'Who has been your greatest influence on your swimming career and why?'

 

'I would say my grandad. He was almost like a father to me when I was young and always wanted to never hold me back and let me follow my dreams. He’s my inspiration, he’s the person that I take away with me to all my competitions a frame and when I go through those hard times, I just look at the picture and that’s when I get that feeling back of getting back in the pool.'

 

 

 

'What three attributes do you think you require in order to succeed of todays competitive world of swimming.'

 

'Having the passion, being able to have the love for what you do, support and motivation.'

 

 

 

'What does your training routine involve, how often do you train and when you do how long for?'

 

'At the moment it ranges from 9-10 swim sessions a week two hours each, 3 gym sessions a week an a hour to an hour and a half each, as well as one bike session which is two hours.

All up it is about 26 hours of physical activity a week.'

 

'What would it be like when you are just before the Paralympics?'

 

'It would be the exact same routine (see above). But just before when I am actually in the village we taper of to about 5 swim sessions a week but probably only at an hour, and we focus on going fast. What I am doing now is more of an endurance-based work out, but when we get to big events we taper of to a five.'

 

 

 

'Can you describe the most defining moment of your career?'

 

'I have got a few, but one I will never forget is in Beijing at the 2008 Paralympics. I won in a tie with my fellow rival Shireen Sapiro from South Africa in the 100m backstroke. I wasn’t feeling great that day; mentally I didn’t think I could do it at night as I had already won two gold’s and a silver and I was physically drained, but to come out with that was very special. Also to hear two national anthems was very special.'

 

 

 

'What have you had to sacrifice in order for your swimming career to survive?'

 

'I wouldn’t really call it sacrificing, I chose this lifestyle because I love it and I enjoy it. I also made it into a career now. But I would say there are things that I haven’t been able to challenge myself with, academically. I finished high school at level 2 NCEA; I never looked into studying which for me I didn’t want to look into studying.  I would say I am a bit academically challenged but I loved sport so much that I wanted to make it into a career and look into opportunities that I can do after swimming but hopefully those opportunities will arise throughout swimming.'

 

 

 

'What made you want to do community work and what makes you want to be more involved in the community?'

 

'I wanted to spread my word about equalisation with able bodies and disabled athletes being on an equal path and I think we should be because I am at a level where I see myself on the same page as my fellow beef and lamb ambassadors: Sarah and Lisa. To be acknowledged in the same respect as them means a lot. Obviously also showing other kids that they can get out there and do sport as it is a great opportunity for them as it can lead them to what I am doing today. So nothing can hold you back, because having one leg doesn’t hold me back.'

 

 

 

'You once said I hope to get many people and young disabled athletes get into sport. How do you feel about this statement now?'

 

'Exactly the same I swim because I love it but at the same time if I can change other peoples life’s and kids with disabilities to be able to do what I’m doing even if it is in a different discipline or if it is academic, cultural or anything else I’m doing my job right because that is what I see myself being later on in life. I want to create a legacy for myself.'

 

 

 

'How important has your team been in ensuring the sporting excellence you have?'

 

'Obviously being there in a motivational roles my support team has helped me financially they have also given me the promotion and the publicity around what I do which is also very important for the previous two questions around media for people with disabilities and they have given me a last sail that I never thought I’d have, so it has been very important to have those people supporting me. Friends and family are also getting the opportunity to travel with me and see what I do in the pool at an international level.'

 

 

 

'What difficulties have you overcome in order to succeed?'

 

'I would say the hardest one is back to motivation through those hard times; I have a lot of those. You can’t be perfect otherwise life wouldn’t be perfect for everyone and that has probably been the hardest difficulty to come across. It’s trying to get yourself back into the sport at the times when you hate it because there are times when you hate it and it can be very lonely in the pool, especially when you are looking at a black line for two to four hours a day. You get into a period when you can almost go into an overthinking period so you start thinking about everything else that is going on in your life and some of those things aren’t positive. So to be able to maintain a good headspace is probably one of the hardest things to overcome in swimming, in what I do generally.'

 

 

 

'What is the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you overcome it?'

 

'The biggest challenge was probably coming back from London and having a lot of Media and having a lot of sponsor commitments also coming of a massive high and you have to go into a low stage somewhere along the line. So I did go into that stage where I found getting back into swimming was quite hard. But there were always people around me, that support team around me to be able to help me and get me back into the right mental mind frame and get myself physically conditioned to get back into swimming.'

 

'In your own words what is the key to success?'

 

'Passion, the love of what you do. Well obviously I don’t live a normal lifestyle as such to the general public. I have chosen this lifestyle because I love it so much and I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t. You’ve always got to do the things that you do love there’s going to be times that you have to do things that you don’t, those are the days that make you stronger. But it is about doing for yourself, no one else and always following your own dreams and no one else’s.'

 

 

 

What one piece of advice would you give to a young person embarking upon a career path?

 

'Always follow your dreams and always create the right networking and support team around you, the ones who are going to stand by you through those hard times and through the good times.'