Oakey juniors training hard
There was nothing stopping 11-year-old Rachel Byers from getting in the pool for training.
The determined junior has trained with the Oakey Aquatic Centre and Swim School for the past few years and has rarely missed a training.
“She is just a little trooper, she comes out here just about every morning at 6am,” Oakey Aquatic Centre manager Jodie Jackson said.
Even in the pouring rain and 22 degree water.
“I know she begs her mum to come down in this freezing cold weather,” Jackson said.
“But she always has a smile on her face she is just happy as.
“You just can’t get her out of the pool she will swim in anything.”
Rachel is part of the senior swim squad and trains with them for an hour every day as well as her own swimming lessons.
Jackson has decided to sign the junior squad swimmers up to compete for the first time.
“We will find a couple of meets to start off with and then hopefully have our own competition here,” she said.
This season the swim club and squad members will also be competing in their very own swimming carnival next month.
“We’re trying to join everything together,” Jackson said.
The Oakey Centre has come a long way since Jackson took over in
November 2015.
“When I first started there were 30 juniors now there’s about 200,” she said.
She put the growth down to her personal approach and the family atmosphere at the centre.
“The community have supported it really well,” she said.