UP to 10 training sessions a week helped prepare Lesmurdie’s Alana Cooper to pit herself against the sea in the Rottnest Channel Swim last month.
It was the second time the 17-year-old had completed the 19.7km swim as a solo competitor.
This time Alana had a cause to spur her on – she was raising money for the Australian Orang-utan Project.
“I have a great passion for the orang-utans and I knew it would help me finish the swim,” she said.
Alana finished in six hours and 28 minutes despite some rough conditions. Her time was 20 minutes faster than her previous solo crossing.
She said the second half of the swim was tough.
“That’s when it started to get quite rough,” she said. “It’s not very nice when your shoulders are hurting already and your tongue feels like it is a lump of seaweed in your mouth.”
“But I just kept swimming, as much as my body was screaming at me to stop. All I could think about was raising money for the orangutans. I couldn’t let them down.”
Alana has raised $730 so far but she hopes to nudge the total past $1000, setting up a Facebook page about the orang-utan project to create awareness. She also plans to keep on swimming.