IT can be tough to get a teenager out of bed in the morning, but not so for Emily Holland.
The 14-year-old UWA West Coast Swimming Club member and Newman College student is up long before dawn four days a week to start her swimming training at 5.15am, travelling from Roleystone to Mt Claremont before heading off to school.
Most days, she’s straight back in the pool as soon as school finishes.
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READ NOWDespite the early wake up calls, Emily said she loved swimming.
“My mum and dad work hard to get me to training each day as we get up at 4am to get to HBF Stadium by 5:15am,” she said.
“Some evenings I don’t get home until 8pm so I eat dinner on the way home in the car, complete my homework at the same time and then go straight to bed ready for the next morning.
“I hate to miss any training sessions if I am sick because missing a training session could mean missing out on improving by just a tiny bit.
“Swimming gives me the motivation to work hard and keep fit and I love the challenge of pushing myself to get faster in all my strokes and be able to lift heavier weights in the gym or complete more pull ups.”
With dreams to one day represent Australia in the Commonwealth or Olympic games, Emily’s 2016/17 WA U15 Open Water Series Champion Girl crown, achieved while she was still only 12, shows it’s an achievable goal.
More recently she competed in April’s nationals, earning personal best times in four of the five individual races she competed in and winning a silver and bronze medal in her two relay events.
“I would love the opportunity to take part in the Commonwealth Games trials and I would also love to get an individual medal at nationals,” she said.
“To get to this standard I need to work really hard at training and work on my technique to be able to go as fast as I can.”
The young swimmer has received a $2000 boost to help her get to regional swimming competitions after she was named the WA winner of Woolworths’ Aspiring Athletes competition.
Woolworths Kelmscott manager Rohan D’Silva said the Aspiring Athletes award gave future stars like Emily a boost to achieve their sporting dreams.