Two year 11 students from Mandurah Baptist College will hit the waves this weekend, to compete in the annual Rottnest Swim.
It’s a father-daughter effort: Shawnalese Norris will swim as a duo with her father, and Tea Webb and her dad will swim in a team of four.
“My dad and mum have been doing [the Rotto Swim] ever year... growing up and watching them both compete has kind of made me want to compete, and I love open water swimming,” Shawnalese said.
“I did Rottnest last year in a team of four, and then a few months ago I did the four k’ open water swim in Mandurah, and then last week I did the Busselton Jetty swim.”
On the other hand, this will be Tea’s first Rottnest attempt.
Her background is with surf life saving.
“I grew up doing it, so I’ve always been around water… I’ve been swimming three times a week: twice in the pool, and once in the ocean,” she said.
Shawnalese’s training comprised of before-school training in the pool, and open water on the weekends.
“i find pool swimming quite boring, because it’s just starting at a line in the pool for hours on end, whereas with open water swimming there’s swell, at the Busselton swim you could see stingrays and fish… it’s really cool,” she said.
Shawnalese hopes to compete solo next year, so the duo race will give her a gage on whether she’s ready.
Tea hopes to successfully finish the swim.
“I’m concerned about getting seasick, because I get seasick sometimes,” she said.
“But we’ll hopefully pump some good music on the boat, it should be a pretty fun day.”
The Rottnest Swim kicks off from Cottesloe Beach from 5am on Saturday, February 25.