After a breakthrough Commonwealth Games, Para swimmer Jenna Jones desires extra

It shouldn’t be typically a canine is as achieved as its proprietor on the sporting stage, however Para swimmer Jenna Jones’s Australian shepherd, Luna, is the exception.

“She’s my best friend. Honestly, we have the same personality, which is scary sometimes,” Jones informed ABC Weekend Breakfast.

The duo competes in a sport referred to as rally, the place a handler and canine stroll a course and are examined on obedience and agility. And like her proprietor, Luna is a gold medallist.

“It builds our bond together and we’re in talks of ambassadorship [as a] runway model for Luna, except she’s turning into a dog model,” Jones stated.

Whatever sporting glory awaits Luna, Jones nonetheless holds the higher hand, lately securing gold within the girls’s 100 metre S13 freestyle on the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, alongside bronze within the 50m freestyle.

It was her first main particular person title, ten years after she made her worldwide debut as a 15-year-old on the Rio Paralympics.

The Glasgow expertise now has her hungry to style extra at this week’s Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in California.

“That was such an incredible experience, something I guess people only dream of and still riding the high of that definitely,” she stated.

“And it definitely gives me so much confidence going into Pan Pacs.

“But the factor I believe I’m trying ahead to probably the most is, we have now so many rookies on this group and I’m so excited to look at all of them debut.”

Jones, originally from the Blue Mountains in NSW but now based on the Sunshine Coast, was diagnosed with a rare degenerative eye disease when she was in kindergarten.

“I’m so fortunate that I obtained into sport at such a younger age,” she stated.

“It taught me find out how to transfer my physique and confirmed me find out how to belief my physique, which has given me a lot confidence in myself, in flip has given me a lot independence in my life.

“Being in this swimming environment, I’ve met so many incredible people that will be my best friends for the rest of my life and it’s opened me up to so many incredible opportunities like this.

“So I’m simply so grateful for all of it and I really like each second of it.”

The 25-year-old is currently studying for a diploma at university and hopes to eventually complete a counselling degree.

As a two-time Paralympian and one of the senior members of the team, she admitted it can be tough juggling study and her sporting career.

But when she reflects on her younger self breaking records in her first national championships, there is an overwhelming sense of pride.

“I believe as an athlete it is so widespread to not sit and scent the roses while you’re in your profession,” she stated.

“Thinking about little 13-year-old me breaking these data, she can be so happy with the place I’m immediately.”