WHEN an aspiring 14-year-old with a will to win and an acute fear of failure was being nudged by her mother at 5am every morning, she’d go to Logan North Aquatic Centre to put in hours of hard work.
That happened 8-10 times a week, and the rest is history – Jodie Henry OAM is athree-time Olympic champion,, world record holder, proud Springwood girl, and highly respected in the industry for the work she does as a sporting official.
Now, the pool where the foundations were built is named in her honour.
Having grown up without a pool of her own, Ms Henry started like a number of others in the backyard pool in Shailer Park, before moving to the bigger club meets at Logan North Aquatic Centre, and later to Chandler.
She said development of Olympic-sized (50m) pools in local communities was invaluable to aspiring athletes.
“It drastically changes the training you do, if you are only swimming short course (25m) you are training differently,” Jodie said.
“All our major events, the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the world championships, the ones that really mean a lot to a swimmer, are long course, so it really does help to have access to facilities like this.”
She said the sky was the limit for the City of Logan’s next generation of swimmers.
“It’s all about staying in it (the sport), if you’ve got a love for it, stay in it and find the people that can support you,” she said.
“The Brisbane (2032 Olympic Games) are coming up, and while we’ve also got a fantastic senior swim team at the moment, it would be great to see what these future generations can add to that legacy.”
The redeveloped pool has been expanded with two additional swimming lanes. It also features improved water quality controls and new energy efficient pumps and filtration.
A bright new splash pad coming in 2023 will also delight younger paddlers and families.
Mayor Darren Power said: “The opening of our new Jodie Henry Pool is a celebration of one of our greatest swimming heroes, but it is also a nod to the champions of tomorrow.
“As we look ahead to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, I have no doubt that this could be the opening chapter of our city’s next sporting stories.”
