Everywhere we go…

Those in the Northen Territory are far away from most places, that means that it takes more time, effort, and money to travel when competing outside of the NT. If direct flights are available, most of them are in the hours between, which makes everyone tired and unable to perform at their best that day. If there isn’t a direct flight, we sometimes must travel on 2 or more planes which costs more money compared to direct flights and can cause more tiredness but may be the only way to make it on time. Lucky there are lots of excellent places in and around Darwin, but it is a shame that the NT is so isolated from the rest of the country.

People wanna know…

The School Sport Australia (SSA) Swimming Championships is a national level event and the pinnacle event for 12 and under swimmers in Australia. To be chosen for the team Louis had to swim fast enough times. Qualifying is hard because there are so many Aussie school kids all wanting a shot to be the champ.

This year the Championship is being held at Gold Coast, QLD. Last year Louis was able to compete in Sydney where he qualified for 6 individual events and 1 relay. Louis was the most successful person from the NT team when he competed in 2 individual finals and won a bronze medal with the boys team in the handicap relay.

Louis travelled with his Mum and brother (Ollie) and had a fun and valuable experience. He learned that elite competition was much more competitive which made him more determined to try harder in his races. He said that he would normally have been exhausted burnt out at the number of high-level races he had to swim (9 races in 3 days of swimming) but the competitive spirit boosted him and he was able to revive sufficiently before each race. He was in awe at being allowed the opportunity to swim, compete and even shower in the same facilities as Olympic champions. 😊

Who we are…

Louis was 4 months old when he started swimming lessons. Unlike most the other babies and toddlers Louis didn’t cry when he got in the water, but he cried when he had to get out! When louis was 6 years old, him his mum and his dad were swimming some laps together and Laurie Lawrence (swimming coach) was there so Louis went up to him and said that he did 40 laps of the pool. Laurie Lawrance was surprised and joked that if Louis kept swimming like that, he would have to take Louis to the Tokyo Olympics to compete! This inspired Louis to create a goal to swim in the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. Ever since that Louis has trained hard and showed outstanding efforts and times. That determination allowed Louis to rise to the standard required to represent the NT in Sydney last year for school sport Australia (SSA) and take out 7 Club records including an NT allcomers record. Louis is a high achieving year 5 student at Larrakeyah primary school in Darwin, NT. Louis is proudly the current Goyder vice house captain 2024.

Where we come from…

In the NT, we have a relatively small and isolated population. Swimming is not well supported financially. We have very few opportunities to compete and we always have the same competitors because we only have 7 Swimming clubs in the whole of the Territory (even counting Kununurra which is actually in WA). There is only one competition standard pool in the top end and one in Alice springs. Last year the NT had the least number of competitors at the SSA Championships with only 9 junior competitors, followed by TAS with 27. This year we only have 8 juniors.

So we tell ‘em…

Please…

DONATE TO LOUIS! He will only go further and further if he can continue to learn and grow from the unique experience that elite level competition can provide. Help grow his swimming career. Look out for Louis Lamont at Brisbane 2032!