As any 14-year-old can attest to, finding an equilibrium to better negotiate life is an emotionally exhaustive process.
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Amelia Lush, 14, helps find that balance by staring at the bottom of a pool.
The year nine St Mary's College student - who lives on her family's sheep, cattle and cropping farm at Goolhi - is one of Swimming Gunnedah's leading lights.
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Starting next Friday at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Lush and a host of Swimming Gunnedah teammates will take part in the NSW Country Championships.
She will contest the 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke.
At the New England and North West Area Championships in Armidale last weekend, she won four silver medals and a bronze medal.
A competitive swimmer for years, Lush said "swimming laps makes everything easier".
"When you're in the water, you don't really think about all the stress and hard stuff that's going on. It's nice to calm down," she said.
Lush does not expect to medal at the Country Championships. Her focus is on improving her personal-best times so she "feels better" about herself.
She doesn't dream of achieving great things in the pool. "At the moment, it's really about season by season," she said.
In a text message to the Leader after our interview with the swimmer, Jennifer Lush said she asked her daughter "why she doesn't dream of being an Olympian".
"'She just said: 'I don't think I'm good enough to do that,'" Jennifer said. "She definitely has the talent [to be an Olympian], but not the mental toughness to want it, I think."
Jennifer said her daughter "loves" swimming. "It's definitely her stress release of 14-year-old dramas. So if she's happy doing it, I'm happy to take her to training and carnivals."
Another of Lush's loves, mum continued, was helping out on the farm, "especially with the animals and irrigating, because it means she can play in the water".
Swimming Gunndah head coach John Hickey said Lush's talent was undeniable, although "she hasn't always raced at her best".
"But she is learning to compete and fight to the finish line," he added.
