PENOLA’S Luke Trotter has never lost his love for the water since taking up swimming as a child, with the 43-year-old recently competing in Mount Gambier’s two day swim meet.
Balancing study and work commitments with his love for the sport throughout his life, Mr Trotter said swimming competitively never got easier as it always offered new challenges.
The Blok Estate winemaker first started swimming after suffering from chest issues as a child.
“I suffered from coup so swimming was suggested to build up my lung capacity and strength,” Mr Trotter said.
Growing up in Colac, western Victoria, Mr Trotter swam competitively each summer, before qualifying to swim in state championships at around age 13.
The Trotter family moved to Mount Gambier in 1987, with the swimmer also trying his hand at lifesaving.
Mr Trotter swam with the Mount Gambier squad over summer until he reached Year 12.
“I then swam state championships and was fortunate enough to make the state team where I swam in the national championships in Queensland,” he said.
After school, Mr Trotter travelled to Sydney to study commerce and aeronautical engineering, where he continued to swim for his college for the next six years.
“I then got a job with Kendell Airlines in Wagga Wagga and still swam a bit, but also played a bit of water polo,” Mr Trotter said.
“It is definitely harder than it looks.”
Eventually, Mr Trotter moved back to Adelaide in search of a house close to a swimming pool.
“In a place like Adelaide you would think it would be full of them, but there are only about three or four outside the city,” he said.
So he moved to Goodwood, near the Unley Swimming Pool, joining the Masters Swimming Club where he swam for the next 10 years.
In 2005, Mr Trotter, his wife and his parents began the Blok Estate Winery in Penola, dedicating his life to wine making after studying the discipline at the University of Adelaide.
“Once I started studying I had a few years off swimming, but then got back into it with the Penola Swim Club for fitness reasons,” he said.
Passing on his love for swimming, Mr Trotter’s children also took up the sport.
“I think the massive Fund My Neighborhood donation resulting in the heating of the pool has encouraged many more people to jump in and give swimming a go,” he said.
With the swimming season now complete, Mr Trotter said the club had a successful year.
“If all goes well, the pool project should be completed by next season, which we are really looking forward to,” Mr Trotter said.
When reflecting on his love for swimming, Mr Trotter said it was hard to put into words.
“I can’t really get into running as I find it boring, but I’m happy to jump in a pool and go up and down following a black line,” he said.
“I have just always enjoyed it.”
