Nicole Davey's journey to the pinnacle of Paralympic sport is an inspiring one of determination, hard work, overcoming barriers, sacrifice and the relentless pursuit of a dream.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Twenty two years ago in October the then teenager was part of the Australian team that competed at the Sydney Paralympics.
A "once in a lifetime experience" and one she "will be forever grateful for", as the former Oxley High student and North West representative reflected to the athletes and parents at Friday's annual zone presentation, it was only something that she achieved through a lot of hard work.
"I don't think I was the naturally best swimmer. I don't think I was any more skilled than a lot of other people," she told them.
"But I know that I worked a lot harder than most other people and every time I got behind those blocks I knew that I had done everything possible I could to get myself there and whatever happened from that point on happened from that point on."
Davey admits she still doesn't understand what it was that motivated her to keep getting up a 4am every morning for training, and everything else that competing at an elite level involves.
"It was just a drive, I think," she said to The Leader.
"And I was lucky enough that, while it was hard, any barriers I did have, I had a lot of people around me who could help me overcome them.
"They couldn't remove them completely, but we were able to work through it and so even though it was harder for me to get to where I needed to go, I still got there."
The toughest barrier, Davey says, was probably when the Workies pool closed down.
With no winter training facility, she ended up having to move away.
Fourteen at the time, she boarded with a family in Gunnedah and trained over there for about a year.
"Then because I was going to Sydney so much for different competitions and training camps, about six or seven months out from the Paralympics, when it was looking more certain I would make the team, I actually moved down to Sydney and lived with my aunty," she recalled.
Not only did that mean leaving behind her family and friends, and all she knew, but also that support system. There was no one making her "get up for training in the morning", no one to make her go in the afternoon: it was all on her.
Looking back on that time now, Davey said she is "incredibly proud" that she "had that motivation and that gumption just to keep getting up and keep going and keep pushing when there were probably so many ways I could have stopped", especially given how young she was.
Only 15 when she made the team - she celebrated her 16th birthday during the Games - she admits she probably wasn't equipped to fully appreciate the experience. But she loved every minute of what she described as "a crazy experience".
She recalled walking in for the opening ceremony and looking up to a packed stadium of about 110,000.
"And I was just thinking there's twice my whole town inside this place, this is ridiculous," she said.
Having to give away swimming two years later due to a shoulder injury, she encouraged the athletes to "enjoy it"; "enjoy the time with your friends, enjoy the competition and enjoy pushing and achieving for more".
She also told them that the lessons they learn in the sporting arena will stand them in good stead for whatever comes next. Now a mum of two boys and the executive manager of media and external communications at NBN Co, she said she still pulls on the lessons she learnt "on a daily basis".
As for the Paralympics she said it's amazing to see the significance they now hold in the sporting conscience.
"It really does make me so happy to see the rise of Paralympic sport and our Paralympic athletes being up there with able bodied athletes in terms of exposure and a recognition that they work just as hard, and then being celebrated as athletes as well as really high performance athletes," she said.
"I think there was a tendency for a while to kind of see Paralympic sport as sort of more to do with the disability and people overcoming their disability rather than the person actually just being very, very good at their craft.
"I think that's the main shift that has happened over the last 20 years in particular."
"And I'm just rapt to see how far Paralympic sport has come....
"The fact that they're putting it on the tv, which is not something they did when I was around.
"I remember they used to have disability events at the National Championships that they used to put on tv, and we had to be at the beginning or the end of the program because the tv wouldn't want to run our events.
"Now Amazon's got it and they they put the multi-disability events in the program and they're being shown on tv. Channel 7 ran the Paralympics as well as the Olympics last year."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
