Meet Sarah!
Sarah Lockhart, our LAP it UP Champion from Kyneton in the Macedon Ranges, learnt to swim with her Dad when she was just six months old and her earliest memory is swimming 75 metres dog paddle when she was just 3 years old!
Whether it’s at the beach, in a river or at the swimming pool, she loves swimming.
"I love the freedom with the water and once I am in my zone, I can clear my thoughts," she says. "It can keep me fit and helps me sleep well".
Sarah decided to make a splash for LAP it UP as a dedication to Tilly, a 15-year-old girlwho died by suicide in March 2021. “Tilly's Mum and Aunty are very dear friends of mine so I swam to raise awareness of mental health issues in regional areas, to raise funds and to channel myself,” she says. “I also really like the fact it is a local charity focused on helping in regional areas.”
For Sarah, participating in LAP it UP in 2022, it felt great to be part of something bigger and it was really encouraging to see LAP it UP caps at the Kyneton swimming pool and meet other participants. She went from swimming 300 metres to 2.3 kilometres in a day!
"I had never swum more than 300 metres before. That first day I felt inspired and just kept swimming, pushing myself each lap. I pushed to 500 metres and then 1 kilometre. Still feeling good, I decided to try and hit 1500 metres. This was because Tilly passed at 15, so I was going to swim 100 metres for every year of her life".
"The last few hundred metres I really struggled. I kept thinking of her struggles and how they were much bigger than mine. I was proud to make it to 1500 metres that day. It then became my new goal. I even swam 2.3 km one day. Times got better and better each day. In the end, I swam a total of 15 km. Now when I go swimming, I can easily do 1 or 2 km".
And her plans for LAP it UP 2023? She plans to encourage her friends to join her and be a team effort!
