“The more I’m here at Pakuranga Park, the more I like it.”
Distance swimmer Sandra Blewett moved to Pakuranga Park in September 2022 and she’s thrilled with her decision: “When I was looking for a new home I went to many retirement villages and I always kept coming back to Pakuranga Park. This village gives me everything I need: it’s close to shops, swimming pools and doctors; I can be independent and safe at the same time, and on top of everything... they have their own pool!”
Sandra is very happy to share her life of adventure with her neighbours and friends at Pakuranga Park. She has swum over 56 marathon swims around the world including the English Channel, Cook Strait, Foveaux Strait, the Catalina Channel in the USA and 4 ways across Lake Taupo. She holds endurance records of 44 hours from Whangarei to Auckland, 33 hours for a double crossing of Lake Taupō and a 25 hour swim in a heated 25 metres swimming pool.
Sandra knew she wanted to be a marathon swimmer since she took her first swimming lessons when she was 10 years old: “I learned to swim with Paul Krause at Parnell Baths. The first five days I was too scared to put my head under the water, on the sixth day Paul pushed my head under and I realized nothing was going to happen. At the end of the week Paul tested us to see if we could swim long distances, and I managed to swim 1500 metres before they stopped me. That day I went home and I told my Mum and Dad I was going to swim Cook Strait, the English Channel and Foveaux Strait! All of which have been achieved.”
Even if her parents encouraged her to follow her dreams, it was never easy for Sandra, specially in the beginning. Being a pioneer in a world that didn’t support women in sports meant that she didn’t get any sponsorship; therefore, she attempted her first marathon swims with her own money and at her own risk. The English Channel took Sandra eight attempts over ten years to succeed. She was always confident she would eventually cross the Channel, but she had to face the negative voices around her that tried to persuade her to give up. “They called me a failure because of my unsuccessful swims, but I’ve never seen it like that. A failure means that you never tried anything. Those eight times I tried but it didn’t happen, I wasn’t successful for various reasons, but I didn’t fail. I also learned a lot from my unsuccessful attempts.”
Sandra has always had the drive to succeed that most celebrated sportspeople have. A drive that she has applied to every other aspect of her life, including her second lifelong passion: teaching people to swim. Over the years she’s had five swim schools, one in Australia, three in England and one in Auckland. She’s been a coach for non-disabled and disabled swimmers, and she has trained Olympians and Paralympians in their early days. She’s now officially retired from her teaching career, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped working. The pool at Pakuranga Park was too much of a temptation for her, and now Sandra offers swimming lessons to her neighbours.
In 1991 Sandra was presented with an M.B.E (Member of the British Empire) by the Queen for Services to Marathon swimming. “I was presented with my M.B.E by Dame Cath, Governor General of New Zealand at Government House in Wellington. I knew Dame Cath when she was Mayor of Auckland, and it was an honour for her to present me with my M.B.E. I was also able to take my parents with me to Government House, as they had supported my swimming for most of my life, especially when I was a young girl.”
Sandra is now happily settled in her one-bedroom apartment at Pakuranga Park, a house full of certificates, photos and newspaper clippings from all her sport achievements. She doesn’t have much space left on the walls and her heart is pretty full too: “I have everything I need here and I’m so happy with my choice. The more I’m here, the more I like it”.
If you’d like to know more about joining our community contact Syvlie on 027 314 5767 or email sylvie.borrett@realliving.co.nz
