Samantha Thompson, Duty Manager at Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre, has been awarded Wellington’s 2024 Young Sportsperson of the Year! Samantha is not only a rising star in the swimming community but also a valued member of the Belgravia Leisure team.

Samantha’s journey into competitive swimming began at the age of 10 when her passion for the sport began. Since then, she has dedicated herself to rigorous training sessions.

For the past five years, Samantha has been waking up at 4:15 am to train with Coach Anthony Chapman and the Orana Aquatic Swimming Club. She travels from Wellington to Dubbo five days a week, spending 1.5 hours training in the morning and another 1.5 hours in the afternoon.

“It’s a lot, but I love it. I question it at some points, but I just love the water. I’ve always loved it. There’s just something about it,” Samantha told Orlander Ruming, Deputy editor at the Daily Liberal.

Samantha’s venture into ocean swimming began in January 2022, and since then, she has steadily increased her skills and achievements in this challenging sport.

“I did a one kilometre and finished third. I thought ‘oh, I did alright, maybe I’ll give this a bit of a go’,” Samantha said.

She tried a five kilometre ocean swim and came third again.

Since then, she’s been building up her distance. This year at the Australian Open Water Championship she finished 14th in 18-year-old girl’s 10 kilometre swim. She also came 19th in the five kilometre event and 18th as a member of the Orana Aquatic Swimming Club’s 4 x 1500m relay team.

Samantha is positive about the future and says, “I’ve always wanted to push myself and just see where I go. If I get on an Australian team a few years down the line than I do, and if I don’t then I know I’ve gone as far as I can,” she said.

Congratulations Samantha! Continue reading Samantha’s feature in the Daily Liberal here.

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