Overcoming every challenge

Kingston swimmer heading to Gold Coast nationals

Hinako Holman can barely remember a time when she wasn’t swimming and the 16-year-old is now busy preparing for the National Championships, this Easter on the Gold Coast. The Kingston Community School student has been swimming for 12 years and ironically she didn’t make it into the water because she loved it.

“I started swimming because I hated water when I was little and my parents thought that it was a good idea that I should learn how to swim,” Hinako said.

She joined a swim club as a seven year old and hasn’t looked back – not allowing her relative isolation to regular competition and quality facilities hold her back.

“I enjoy swimming for the fitness and the team aspect, also meeting new people from many different places,” she said. “I also enjoy how the local Kingston SE community supports my achievements in swimming. It’s a very supportive community.”

And those achievements have been racking up over the past 12-24 months as Hinako takes her swimming to a whole new level. At last year’s Australian Country Championships in Darwin she returned with silver and bronze medals and at this year’s 2023 SA Country Championships in Mount Gambier her medal haul was an impressive nine.

Just last month, she attained her national qualifying time in the 50m backstroke in the final of the event at the SA Long Course Championships.

Given Hinako’s challenges when it comes to training, her resume to date reads even more impressively.

“I train everyday by myself, except when it is super cold and windy, the typical Kingston SE weather,” she said. “Sometimes it is challenging training by myself as I have no teammates around.”

She also spends three sessions a week in the gym and then there is the thousands of kilometres spent travelling for both training and competitions.

“We spend a lot of hours on the road going to training and events, but that’s just part of living in a country area, I’m just glad my parents are so supportive and get me to where I have to be,” Hinako said.

While this weekend’s nationals have been her focus, she already has her sights on the major South Australian events on the calendar over the next 12 months and in 2024 she will add another challenge to her schedule.

“I start Year 12 in 2024 and I hope to go into the medical field, so next year is an important year of education for me,” Hinako said.

Now a member of the Mount Gambier Swimming Club, Hinako has had a number of mentors along her swimming journey.

“My first coach in Japan, Tamaki Hamada, taught me so much about swimming and more importantly about being organised and respectful to others,” she said. “I also am very grateful for my current coaches Julie Moran and Nathan Stratford at Mount Gambier as they give me great guidance and continue to work with me on improving my swimming.”

Hinako was also grateful for the two years she spent with the Bordertown Dolphins when she first arrived in Australia with coaches Aaron Schneider and Fleur Finlayson playing a key role in her development as well as the Schwarz family, who were very helpful to her family with swimming.

Given it is the stroke in which she achieved her national qualifying time, it is not surprising backstroke is currently her favourite discipline but as with all young swimmers, she continues to train across all the strokes.

Given Hinako makes the trek to Mount Gambier to train with the Mount Gambier Swimming Club on a weekly basis, the new Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre is a wonderful drawcard for the star on the rise.

“Wulanda is great – it was the best to have the Country championships there this year, there were many PBs and really great results for our club,” Hinako said. “It’s also so much better for training as we have all the correct equipment to help our swimming get better. I think it will improve many swimmers with facilities like this and we will see more State and National representation in the future I think.”