Surf Life Saving: Talitha McEwan is a natural in the water

Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club's Talitha McEwan was the Under 13 female age group winner in the 2018 Eastern Region Pool Championships at the weekend. Photo/Andrew Warner

At just 12 years old Talitha McEwan has achieved so much in such a short amount of time.

One of her latest achievements is scoring the Under 13 female age group title in the 2018 Eastern Region Pool Championships on Saturday, which followed her first placings in her three events in the competition - the 50m swim with fins, brick carry and rescue medley.

Talitha was one of 162 athletes who competed in the second day of the 2018 Eastern Region Pool Championships on Saturday, as preparation for the national New Zealand Pool Rescue Championships from October 12-14 in Auckland, which she is also competing in.

This is referred to as just one of her latest achievements because yesterdayshe was off to the 2018 Rovers 34th Chocolate Festival swimming competition in Te Awamutu where she did well, securing first in her 200m freestyle race, third in 100m fly and even posted personal bests in her races.

Two competitions in one weekend is normal life for the Year 8 Papamoa College student, who can attribute chance, a lot of determination and of course family support as massive drivers in her success in swimming and surf lifesaving.

She signed up as a Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club member at the beginning of last year - something she had to convince her parents to let her do because she did so much already.

Talitha, who officially becomes an Evolution Aquatics Tauranga swimmer as of today, gets up early every weekday for swim club training at 5.30am. On Saturday she gets a sleep-in, with training starting at 7am, and she bikes to her surf lifesaving trainings on Sundays.

Soon after the New Zealand Ocean Swim Series started, she won three of the six events she had entered.

"There was no turning back at that point," her mum Veronika McEwan said.

In 2014 Talitha was selected to attend the Jetstar Super Swim Squad camp, where she and other young swimmers were given the chance to train with Kiwi Olympians Moss Burmester and Melissa Ingram. This was what sparked her passion for the sport, telling her parents she wanted to focus on swimming from then on.

She is now a regular competitor in ocean swimming - she prefers long-distance events but because of her age she is limited. She also tackles surf lifesaving events and triathlons, and plays both underwater hockey and water polo.

There's a strong theme here and what may seem surprising is that Talitha doesn't come from a swimming family. Although her parents enjoy fishing and social days at the beach, they have the normal fears of the ocean.

McEwan says her daughter has none and always tells her family, with excitement, about all of the sea creatures she sees while swimming.

"She loves it, she loves the open water," McEwan says.

She says without that Super Swim Squad camp Talitha may never have discovered her love for swimming and McEwan believes it is vital that parents allow their children to work out their own interests, rather than follow what their parents do.

This coming weekend will be another busy one for Talitha, competing in an underwater hockey tournament on Friday and Saturday.

And next year, she has some major plans - to compete in international events, with at least two planned in Europe.

Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club's Naomi Davoren says the Eastern Region Pool Championships are a good stepping stone for regional athletes ahead of the nationals.

The championships were held in the 25m pool at the Baywave Aquatic Centre as the normal venue, Te Rapa Waterworld, was closed for maintenance. The nationals are held in a 50m pool.

Davoren said in preparation for the nationals, the Pāpāmoa members were heading to Rotorua yesterday so they could train in the 50m outdoor pool and she expected some good results from local athletes.