As Mother’s Day approaches, we peer into the life of famous swimming mum Jenny Campbell

AS Mother’s Day approaches, Andrew Dawson peers into the life of western suburbs swimming mum Jenny Campbell whose story mirrors that of so many behind-the-scenes parents.

Jenny Campbell is one of thousands of Australian parents who have risen early and been on the road long before most peoples’ alarm clocks have gone off.

It is what parents do for their sporting children.

“You do get tired but it depends on what you have to do for the rest of the day,’’ Jenny said.

Some swimmers turn out to be like Jenny’s children, Olympic swim stars Cate and Bronte, some do not.

But regardless if their children progress or not, the effort is often similar.

Cate Campbell hugs Bronte Campbell during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANA

What made a huge difference for Jenny was being able to be a full-time mother and also having her children start swimming locally at Kenmore Hills.

It also helped that both Cate and Bronte, not surprisingly, were motivated.

“Ultimately for us the commitment came from Cate and Bronte,’’ she said.

“I did not have to wake them up and get them ready.

Bronte Campbell. Both sisters attended Kenmore State High School. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

“They got up and woke me up when they were ready to go to swimming. It also made it manageable sharing with a couple of families that lived nearby.

“But there was one year where they would train Monday, Wednesday Friday and Jessica (another daughter) trained Tuesday and Thursday and at that time there was no one to share the lifts with. That year nearly killed us,’’ she said.

It is perhaps why the Campbell’s family email address makes reference to the word chaos.

She said the luck of finding top-tier coaches, like Rob and Simon Cusack, at their local Kenmore pool could also not be under estimated.

Cate Campbell celebrates after win. Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

“It just worked out really well,’’ Jenny said.

“It meant we had time to bring them home between swimming and school and between school and swimming in the afternoons, so they did not have to leave at 5am and get back at 7pm.

“They had an hour either side to get home and get back.

“And it was just really fortunate the local club had a coach right for our girls.’’