ASHLEA Bennett is a young achiever in the truest sense of the phrase.
The Catholic College student, 18, has accomplished many things in her young life, particularly in swimming.
And when she hits the water it’s easy to see that’s where she belongs.
“You feel free in the water, you feel unburdened,” Ashlea said.
“It just feels natural to be there and I don’t feel like I have a disability any more.”
But for Ashlea there is more to sport — and life — than medals and accolades.
“As well as achieving goals and winning medals the other side of sport is also important to me,” she said.
“I like to give back to the community for everything that it has given to me.”
Ashlea said she volunteered her time to mentor younger children and spoke at local schools about her involvement in sport.
Her mother Debbie said Ashlea had been swimming competitively for eight years, and as well as representing Victoria had been selected to compete in the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships since 2004.
“Kids with disabilities and special needs don’t realise what avenues and what pathways there are out there,” she said.
“But lots of kids are being exposed to things because of what people like Ash and (Border swimmer) Jodie Elkington do.”
And it is for these reasons that she was named one of Wodonga’s young citizens of the year for 2010.
“I always felt a little self-conscious and lacked self-belief,” Ashlea said.
“But it was my grade 5 teacher at the time who also had cerebral palsy in his legs who pushed me towards zone swimming through the primary schools.
“I did that and made it to Melbourne and won a medal there, then all the doors and opportunities opened up.”
Since then she has made sure to open up the same opportunities for others.
“The Ovens and Murray didn’t have WD events,” Ashlea said.
“But with my dad we’ve helped get it into the program trying to change the movement of swimming in the district.
“So kids and adults with a disability have the chance to participate in a race with other people with disabilities.”
Recently Ashlea swam at the SWD Aged Nationals at the AIS where she came back with silver in the 50m and bronze in the 100m breaststroke.
While Ashlea also won gold medals for the 50m and 100m breaststrokes at the Youth Paralympic Games 2009, she narrowly missed out on a berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“That was a bit of a whirlwind and was a really motivating step up,” she said.
“My friends went to Beijing so I got to see them go up and race which really inspired and opened my eyes to what you can achieve.”
But off all the achievements she said she felt particularly honoured to receive Sportsmanship Awards at the 2008 Pacific School Games and the 2009 School Sport Australia Swimming Championships in Perth.
Shamrocks swimming coach Bryan Craig said Ashlea was in the top two or three swimmers in her age group in the country.
“She’s certainly a person willing to forget all problems in life and not let them hold her back,” he said.
Ultimately Ashlea said wearing the green and gold for Australia would be a dream come true and hoped she would make it to the London Olympics in 2012.
Yet typically of the young star she said it wouldn’t be just about her.
“To be able to wear the green and gold, to represent not only Australia but the Albury-Wodonga community and the people who have supported me throughout my life, would just be an incredibly, amazing opportunity,” she said.
Bennett is the latest nominee for the 2010 Norske Skog Young Achiever Award. She will be among 12 nominees who will be honoured during an awards dinner in Albury this month.
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