Susan’s just glad she dived right in
AT 82 years old, Cooktown’s Susan Forsyth spends her days volunteering at the community pool and undertaking a gruelling fitness regimen many people half her age would struggle with.
A mother of seven, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of two, Mrs Forsyth is the pool’s volunteer “professional greeter” and is a valuable member of the team, Cook Shire Council pool coordinator Ros Logan said.
“She is at the pool almost every day, smiling and welcoming people, showing them around,” Mrs Logan said.
“She assists with school swimming lessons and council’s Learn to Swim program and is training to be a certified AustSwim instructor.”
The inspirational senior was a baton-bearer for the Queen’s Baton Relay as it made its way through Cooktown last year on the way to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
She also competed in the 2013 Great Barrier Reef Masters Games, winning medals in all five races she competed in – three bronzes and two silvers.
“She couldn’t swim a lap of the 25m pool when she first started swimming in her 70s,” Mrs Logan said.
“And now she can swim more than 130 laps.”
When she isn’t in the pool helping others, swimming laps or doing aqua aerobics, Ms Forsyth is busy in the pool gardens weeding, enjoying senior’s fitness on the foreshore or spending time with her family.
The pool is open from 5.30am to 6pm weekdays and 1pm to 6pm on weekends, with a range of activities throughout the year, including Learn to Swim, private swimming lessons, aqua aerobics and school holiday activities.
For more information on what is available at the Cooktown Pool, visit the council’s website, or contact the pool directly via email on pool@cook.qld.gov.au or phone on 4069 6928.