Rhiannon has faced a great deal of adversity to be where she is now. Several years back her life changed scarily but it has made her what she is today. At the age of 10 her heart would beat erratically every time she tried to do any physical activity. Rhiannon didn’t have any choice but to give up her sports. So athletics, nippers, rugby league, basketball and netball had to go.
She did have inspiring role models in her family, however. Her brother and sister were committed to swimming. Her mother, Donna, asked Rhiannon at the time whether she wanted to swim for fun or swim in competition. If Rhiannon did want to swim in competition then Donna would help her with everything. This has all worked out very well.
At 12 she was competing at school and won three gold medals at school state. However, when Rhiannon’s problems arose again she had to drop out of her position in the all schools meet. Rhiannon had to then undergo an operation on her heart. And because of that operation they found out she has Parkinson White Wolf Syndrome. Simply put, it’s when the electrics in the heart don’t work properly so the heart doesn’t work the way it should.
Rhiannon came back in 2011 in March and not only swam but won the Speedo Sprint in the 50m Butterfly. The next year in the same competition she won the 50m Freestyle. How brave is that!
At 13 she qualified for the nationals. It was her first major meet. She came into that meet ranked 25th in all of Australia and left the meet ranked ninth. She swam her personal best and her ranking for ninth place was for Butterfly. In my opinion, that’s the hardest swimming style, and it shows just how talented Rhiannon is.
What! Yes, there’s more. Rhiannon went on to qualify for the Australian Open short course. That in itself is a great achievement. At the beginning of this meet she was ranked 52nd. Then she swam her personal best, which was 1.03.56, and improved her ranking to be 23rd in all of Australia.
Does she ever take time off? I don’t think so, because in January just passed Rhiannon came third in NSW for her age in the 100m Butterfly. You ask what is so good about this? Well, I have the privilege to tell you that Rhiannon will be swimming in the Australian Open again this April and competing in the 50m and 100m Butterfly as well as the Freestyle in the 50m, 100m and 200m events.
If she can maintain this momentum, her coach Hamid Mobarrez, who qualified for the 2000 Olympics, thinks Rhiannon can achieve her dreams. I believe him.
I have to remind you that, apart from making waves in the pool, Rhiannon is a normal girl. She goes motorbike riding with her brother and likes going to the movies and having a good time with her friends and family. She is so unwavering in her goals that she trained throughout the school holidays. She doesn’t get any time off for training and trains every weekday morning, twice in the afternoon and Saturdays too.
I do admire her and I really like her work ethic. Rhiannon says: “If you like something and you are good at it, train hard and don’t give up if you fail.” Great words to live by.
