Golden girl, Mathilda King has done it again. This time the Year 8 student has brought home a coveted New South Wales All Schools title in the fifty metre breaststroke event.
Mathilda is both collected and humble in her wins. However, her excitement was palpable when SCAS Media revealed her listing on the 2018 New South Wales team for the School Sport Australia Swimming event.
“This is very exciting actually. Fifty metre breaststroke is my best event and I have only had the chance to compete in the one hundred metre breaststroke at a national level so it is going to be really cool to get the opportunity to do the fifty” says Mathilda.
Mathilda went into the All Schools event with the fastest qualifying time. The pressure of meeting the expectations that come with ranking first, however, did not phase King.
“You can track where you’re going in and what lane and I was ranked first so I was confident. There is a little bit of pressure but it got me excited as well,” she explained.
It was only until Mathilda touched the wall that she realised that she had won the title and even then, reality has yet to sink in.
“Coming back to school my friends keep saying ‘do you know that you just won state?’,” Mathilda laughs.
Her rise to success in the pool has been a rapid one. Moving to Australia five years ago from England, she has only been in the sport for three years.
“Back in England I was doing maybe just once a week learn to swim and they said I had something special before I moved over to Australia and that I should get into a club when I got here and that’s what my parents did,” explains Mathilda.
While it was a fast trip to the top, it wasn’t without hard work for Mathilda as she manages both school work and a demanding training program. Mathilda hopes that despite the challenge SCAS students will be encouraged by her success to go out and achieve their own goals.
“I think you should go for it no matter how much you have on your plate. Stay calm about it all, don’t stress about it because it will work out eventually,” Mathilda advises.
Mathilda will compete in the 12 – 14 years fifty metre breaststroke event at the School Sport Australia Swimming Championship held in Hobart. Success at this level will definitely be deserving of one of Mathilda’s celebratory mother-daughter shopping trips.
“We went shopping this time but I didn’t find anything and my mum found everything. After two hours I realised mum was carrying a heap of bags and I wasn’t carrying any so I decided it was time to go home,” Mathilda laughs.
The SCAS community congratulates Mathilda on her achievement and wishes her all the best as she progresses to Hobart for the School Sport Australia Swimming Championship.