How swimming for 'therapy' created a Paralympic champion
By Lakeisha Patterson
I was born breech – meaning my bum was first instead of my head. After scans showed my incorrect position in the womb, Mum was scheduled to have a Caesarian, but I came too quick and they didn’t have time to go through with it.
Due to the incorrect position of my body when I was born, I was deprived of oxygen and my body turned blue. It caused a stroke and I needed resuscitation.
The trauma at birth led to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy left hemiplegia, which affects movement, coordination and balance on the left side of my body.
Mum was open to all sorts of suggestions and treatments to make my life easier, but being a middle child, my main motivation was to just try and keep up with my sisters in whatever we did. I was encouraged to try and play different sports, which was a positive thing.
After trialling many different things, I found that swimming was the one sport in which I felt really at home. It started as therapy, a way to manage my muscle pain and help me gain mobility. And it blossomed from there.
It wasn’t until swimming came into my life that I found I was on a near-even setting with my sisters. I felt free in the pool and the water on my skin felt magical. I had a sense of belonging, which was a new experience.
My sisters were swimming in squads and I set myself the goal of reaching the same squad and beating my older sister, Tehlia. There was some very healthy competition between us! When I finally reached the same squad as Tehlia, it felt like a really big achievement.
Beyond matching my sister, swimming wasn’t about competition for me. In fact, it wasn’t until I watched the London 2012 Paralympics on TV that I realised Paralympic sport even existed!
I remember staying up late to watch the swimming in London, just because I was enjoying my swimming so much at the time, and it was great to see all the incredible athletes, who had already overcome incredible odds to get to the stage of representing Australia and winning medals.
I remember sitting in the lounge room and saying to Mum that I was going to compete at the next Paralympic Games, in Rio, and I was going to win a gold medal. Mum was like, ‘Ah, OK, well, if you work hard, then maybe!’ I was 13.
I think she was quite surprised and thought I was very ambitious. But she was always willing to support me in any way possible.
I went to training the next day and told my coach at the time the same thing. My coach looked into how I could become classified, meaning I could compete in Paralympic sport, and then I went to a few local competitions to try and get qualifying times.
Having that goal was really important for me to focus on something, and feel like I had a purpose, which led to some fast improvement. At 14, I made my first national development team, which was really exciting. And the following year I made the national team for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
It all happened very quickly. I was able to beat some champion swimmers who were twice my age, people I really looked up to. It felt overwhelming in some ways, but I think it also ignited the fire to keep working hard and see what was possible.
The Games in Rio was a great experience. Coming home with two gold medals, two world records, three silver and a bronze felt incredibly satisfying.
With the nickname ‘Lucky’, people often say I’ve achieved what I have through luck. But I believe otherwise. I agree with the Roman philosopher, Seneca, who said, ‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’. If you work hard, results will follow.
