Lane Beachley

And Catherine and Christina and Dad became a family unit.

And then when we lost Christina, I now have a 13-year-old sister who has lost her mother.

And then at the same time, I'm also connecting with my biological mother, Maggie, who lives on the other side of the world.

So there was a lot of dynamics going on in the midst of world title campaigns.

I'm very good at compartmentalizing.

I've learned how to show up even when I don't feel like it and compete to the best of my ability and win, even when life's not great.

And

I must admit those challenges out of the water were infiltrating my mind and my heart, but I was able to at least block that out for 20 or 30 minutes while I was in the water and just focus on getting the best out of myself despite all of that.

But it was hard.

It was challenging.

It was...

It was an emotional rollercoaster.

I was inspired to find out where I came from.

When I moved out of home, I started winning.

not world titles yet, but I was winning events.

So I was challenging the world champions for their place at the top of the ratings.

And I started to feel isolated and alone.

And I thought, I need to find out where I come from.

So in the mid-90s, I applied for my birth certificate.

And the information that I received via that certificate put me at ease for a while because at the time the certificate stated that my mother was 17, she lived in Surrey Hills and she was born in Glasgow, Scotland.