THE “Rachel to Rio” push has begun.
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Bathurst residents are joining forces to help get a local young swimmer to the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games in 2016.
Bathurst TAFE early childhood student Rachel Staines, 19, is dedicated to her chosen sport of swimming, but she needs a helping hand to realise her dreams.
Her story caught the eye of a local businessman who, until recently, admitted he’d never even met the swimmer.
Damien Grant from Bathurst Auto Parts has made a pledge to do all he can to get the rising star on the plane to Rio.
“I’d read stories in the Western Advocate about Rachel’s performances in the pool and how she just keeps getting better and better – so much so she’s in contention to make the Australian Paralympic team for 2016 in Rio.
“Wow, what an inspirational kid, I thought. She deserves to make it. But I know realising your dreams not only takes dedication, it also takes a lot of money to travel near and far for the type of competition you need at this elite level.
“I thought the community should be made aware of how awesome Rachel is in the hope it will band together to help sponsor her efforts.
“After making a few phone calls I realised other people have the same belief in Rachel and Dave Berry decided he’d start the ball rolling and has kicked in $4000.
“Just think, if we can get a commitment from a bunch of people for just $100 or $200 each a year it could soon come up to the thousands of dollars needed to pay for all the expenses that will have to be covered to realise this type of goal.
“In coming weeks and months we hope to get a list of ‘Rachel To Rio’ fans who have come on board. It’s the type of community thing Bathurst is well-known for.”
Rachel, who is coached by her wheelchair-bound father Allan, was born with cerebral palsy. She has partial paralysis down her right side.
Allan was injured in a water skiing accident at Condobolin when he was 20 years old.
“We are pretty proud people and we’re never after handouts,” Allan said. “But when Damien came to us out of the blue wanting to support Rachel’s efforts we were just blown away.
“He told us that people wanted to help and to accept the fact that they did. It costs a lot to travel to a meet.
“We’ve just been to the NSW Country meet and the state championships and on March 28 are heading off to the national titles in Brisbane.
“We spent just over $2000 to go to state in Sydney last week and without help from Damien we would have had to stop and think twice about even going down to compete.”
Mr Grant said he’s met with Rachel and Allan and admits he is in awe of how humble they are.
“We have created a website racheltorio.com and want people to come along for the ride and get behind her,” he said.
“Hopefully things will snowball.”