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Monique Munro defies odds to earn Junior Sports Star nomination

SOMETIMES sport isn’t about being elite, sometimes it is just about having a go and doing your best.

Junior Sports Star Monique Munro (11), from Elderslie, loves swimming despite being diagn
Junior Sports Star Monique Munro (11), from Elderslie, loves swimming despite being diagn

SOMETIMES sport isn’t about being elite, sometimes it is just about having a go and doing your best.

Monique Munro is the Macarthur Chronicle Junior Sports Star nominee for this week.

Eleven-year-old Munro was diagnosed with motor dyspraxia at the age of five.

The condition means her brain breaks down simple motions like running or swimming into multiple steps that must be relearned.

Naturally this is mentally fatiguing, and it also affects Munro’s co-ordination and strength.

Despite this and being advised by her doctor to not pursue swimming, Munro has not only participated in the sport, but excelled at it.

She is the Mawarra Public School and Razorback zone champion for every event except breaststroke.

She also qualified for this year’s state swimming carnival and was named Narellan Swimming Club’s point scoring champion.

Munro says she loves the sport and trying to do the best she can with it.

“I was told to give it up but I wanted to be like my sister (also a swimmer),” she said.

Explaining her disorder Munro said her body “forgets” movements if she doesn’t do them on a weekly basis.

“Anything physical is very hard and my brain gets fatigued quite quickly,” she said.

“I have to try harder than everyone else but I am really happy and proud of my achievements.

“Sometimes I think of giving up but then I think of what I have done and I don’t want to stop, I get a lot of help from my friends, teachers and family.”

The sponsor of the awards is Rebel.

SCHOOL: Mawarra Public senior champion 2014

ZONE: Razorback Zone senior champion 2014

STATE: Qualified for NSW PSSA in 50m Backstroke

NOMINATE NOW: Enter the awards at juniorsports

star.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/monique-munro-defies-odds-to-earn-junior-sports-star-nomination/news-story/58690120a51b1bbd3899fd6173d21d23