“I had a really horrible introduction to swimming from the age of two right up until around age seven. I had grommets in my ears and so I hated the way the water felt in my ears. At my first swim school I was just dunked. So I have a bit of a twisted relationship with swimming, and fell into it later accidentally.
Motivated: Lessons learned through trauma and the hardships of others fuels swimming teacher Nick-Luca Hancock to share his time and talent in the pool. Image: Samantha Christensen
I only really started liking swimming when I was about 11 years because I swam with my neighbour Daniel. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour on the base of his spine and the best thing for him to do after it was removed was to swim. He was a great athlete before the tumour, so it was great for him to be able to do it again afterwards.
My dad, my sister and I went to support him when he began swimming competitively, and watching him made me think I wanted to be like him. When the growth came back, he was about to qualify for the Paralympics. It was quite traumatic for me as a kid of 15 watching him deteriorate, and then eventually passing away. But seeing him go through illness and suffering and still trying as hard as he did really motivated me to keep going.
I had to stop swimming myself when I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), once in a soccer game and a second time in a basketball game. But coming back to it after five years felt familiar and was quite the full circle moment for me.
I have a bit of a twisted relationship with swimming, and fell into it later accidentally.
I love being able to share what I love with people. The most rewarding experience I’ve had with swimming teaching is when I taught a young boy who is paralysed from the rib cage down. We worked together for 12 months and I taught him to use his arms and chest to stay afloat. He can swim now and recently competed in a state school carnival.
It was a challenging time though. He was quite cynical about it when he started, but he worked really hard. We did private lessons and really worked on making him feel comfortable. Then we started hearing from his mum that he made it to zone level and then state level.
I am so proud that he managed to overcome these negative feelings and it’s nice to think I can make this impact on people. Especially as it reminds me of how I got into swimming with Daniel."
