Bigger the splash, better the impact – Amy’s final challenge week

By Nicole May 

AT the beginning of February 10-year-old Amy Hodson from Wonthaggi joined participants all over Australia diving in to support Starlight Children’s Foundation’s (Starlight) fourth annual Super Swim challenge.

Amy set herself a personal goal to raise $1,500 and swim 20km in 28 days and next Tuesday is Amy’s final swim. She has already exceeded expectations, swimming over 14kms since February 1 and raising $8,422. 

“I love swimming and hope to one day be in the Olympics, when I heard about the challenge I thought, I want to do it because adults help kids all the time but it’s hard for kids to help kids and with this challenge, I can help sick kids and swim at the same time.” 

Amy’s mother Robyn said Amy’s motivation for the challenge came from her time in and out of hospital as a young child. 

Amy has no vision in her right eye, she was born with a rare cataract on the right side and underwent surgery at only eight weeks old. 

Since then, she spent many years at the Royal Children’s Hospital for appointments and further surgeries due to her cataract.

Amy has been swimming with the South Gippsland Bass Swimming Club (SGB) for 12 months and trains three times a week at the YMCA in Wonthaggi – totalling approximately two kilometres per training session and with the support of her coaches. 

Amy will track every swim at training and every extra swim until February 28. 

Get behind Amy’s big swim by donating at https://superswim.org.au/amy-hodson