Lakeisha ‘Lucky’ Patterson has turned the disruptions of the pandemic to her advantage for the Paralympic Games (August 24-September 5) in Tokyo.
The 22-year-old, who does her strength and conditioning, massage and physio in North Lakes, has used the extra time to focus on “little one percenters” which can make a big difference when she goes for gold in the 400m Freestyle S9.
Japan is the latest stop in a swimming journey which began 17 years ago to manage muscle stiffness after Lucky was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy left Hemiplegia soon after birth and epilepsy at the age of five.
The UQ student will hit the water in Tokyo a year later than first planned after COVID forced the Paralympics and Olympics back by 12 months – but that time has been used wisely.
“Sometimes different can be good,” said Lucky, who trained at Southern Cross, Scarborough early in her career and is now with Belgravia at Burpengary Aquatic Centre.
“It took time to adjust and figure out what was happening. Instead of seeing negatives, I instilled everything I have worked on and used in the past, to move forward.
“That gave us more time to work on those little one percenters. In a way, it was an exciting time to get those added advantages.”
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