Editor’s Letter
It was big, round, blue, plasticky and for the first few years of my life in suburban Lower Hutt, it was my happy place – hands up who remembers the Para pool! My parents built it in the backyard of our red brick and stucco home, and by the time I was a toddler, I could throw myself off the surrounding deck into the water, making it to the other side by propelling myself underwater.
Mum and Dad believed one of the greatest life skills they could give me was the ability to swim, and you could say I took to it like the proverbial duck. I don’t ever remember finding swimming hard compared to my friends. While others complained about the chlorine and the cold at school swimming sports, I couldn’t wait to compete. Before I knew it,
I had a pile of medals, a swim coach and a schedule that saw my poor mother driving me to every pool in Wellington for competitions while my pals went to movies and McDonald’s. It was probably about then that the gloss started to wear off for me. When I had to chop my long hair off because it cut down the drying time in winter, swimming didn’t seem quite so fun. When I got well and truly beaten in a 100m backstroke regional final race and my only comeback was “I just couldn’t be bothered”, I knew I was done with my swim career. I just didn’t have it in me. Swimming had gone from being something I loved and did with my friends to something I loathed and resented. I was 10 years old.
Which is why I have so much admiration and respect for those Kiwis preparing to give it all at the Olympics in Tokyo. To reach such a pinnacle level in sport takes grit and guts. Much must be sacrificed in order to make it to the top.
Shrouded in Covid controversy, this year’s Olympics will be like no other, but you can bet for those athletes taking part, there is no place they’d rather be. This is where the blood, sweat and tears become worth it, and I wish them all the golden glory in the world, especially our delightful cover star Lisa Carrington.
The motto for the Tokyo games is United by Emotion and while Lisa may not be able to have her biggest fans cheering her on in Japan, she should know every Kiwi in the land will be right behind her. Happy reading. SARAH HENRY EDITOR-AT-LARGE