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- Jake’s parents were standing just metres away when the young boy almost drowned in their backyard pool.
- Sinking to the bottom of the water, his dad jumped in to save him.
- Falling in love with the water, Jake went on to become an Olympian.
Here Jake tells his story in his own words
Adjusting my goggles, I raised my arms above my head, and shuffled my feet on the blocks.
BANG! the gun sounded, and I launched my body, diving into the pool.
At 22, I’d spent most of my life working up to this moment – representing my country in swimming at the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.
Stroke, stroke, breath, I told myself, arms churning through the water.
‘Dad! Dad! Help Jake!’
I’d always loved swimming, especially as a young boy growing up in Noosa, Queensland, with my parents Kerry, now 67, and Hazel, 68, and older sister Alyce.
We had a pool in our backyard and Alyce and I would spend hours playing in the water.
But one warm day in 1998 when I was just four, things took an unexpected turn.
Alyce, then six, and I were splashing in the water at the edge of the pool with our parents close by.
Standing on the middle step, I went to reach for the ledge at the side of the pool and missed.
In a spilt second, I lost my grip.
Panicking, I quickly sank below the water.
Luckily Alyce spotted my lifeless body at the bottom of the pool.
‘Dad! Dad!’ my sister cried. ‘Help Jake!’
‘Are you alright bud?’
The next thing I knew, strong arms were stroking through the water.
Dad had dived into the pool fully clothed to save me.
With my eyesight hazy at the bottom of the pool, I just remember seeing Dad’s sunglasses topple into the water as he jumped in to rescue me.
It was the last thing I thought of as my vision blurred and everything went black…
When I came to, my nose and throat burned as I coughed up the chlorinated water.
My lips blue, Dad wrapped me in a towel.
‘Are you alright bud?’ he asked, holding me close.
‘I could have drowned!’
Mum ran over to make sure I was okay and, relieved, gave me a hug.
Mum and Dad’s attention had strayed just for a moment when they spotted skydivers parachuting down near our home.
It was at the same moment I’d lost my footing and panicked.
Thankfully I didn’t need to go to hospital, and in a few days I was back in the pool under close supervision.
After that scary experience, my parents enrolled me in swimming lessons and I joined Alyce at our local pool.
Gliding through the water, I wasn’t afraid.
In fact I loved every minute of class as we learned how to float and use different strokes.
My favourite was breaststroke, and it soon became my specialty.
I continued my lessons, and by age 12 I was competing in swimming races.
I was blown away when I took home my first gold medal in a state competition in 2006.
I didn’t even train that much, I thought, as I admired the medal around my neck. Maybe I should.
Mum and Dad supported my love for the sport and found me a coach named Vanessa. From the age of 13, seven days a week I’d ride my bike to the local pool to swim.
By the time I was 18 and had finished school, I had one big dream – to make an Australian swim team.
So I moved to Brisbane in 2012 where I found a new swimming coach, Chris Mooney.
I trained harder than I ever had before, swimming nine or 10 sessions a week for two hours each.
And on top of those I did three sessions at the gym.
I was over the moon when I qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Swimming in the men’s 4 x 100 relay medley team with Mitch Larkin, David Morgan and Kyle Chalmers, the roar of the crowd was deafening as spectators cheered us on.
But as I broke the surface after diving in, the world melted away as I concentrated on only my breath and moving my body as efficiently through the water as possible.
When we placed third, I felt like I was living in a dream.
Embracing my team mates, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
I couldn’t believe it that, at 22, in my first Games, I had a bronze medal hanging proudly around my neck.
As the Australian anthem playing to the packed arena, I felt on top of the world.
Two years later I hung up my goggles, as professional swimming became too much to juggle with work.
Now I work as a senior conservation officer in Queensland.
I met my now wife Amber, 29, and together we welcomed a daughter, Valley, eight months ago.
Valley is already following in my footsteps.
At four months old we signed her up for swimming lessons, and nothing makes me happier than seeing her face light up as she splashes in the pool.
She loves the water and it’s so important to us that she knows how to swim and be safe around the water.
What happened to me as a kid changed my life, but it could have taken it.
It only takes a split second for tragedy to strike.
