From the Head of Academic Culture's Desk

In the news recently a thirteen-year-old boy from Western Australia, Austen Applebee, performed what is being hailed as a superhuman effort to swim four kilometres through ocean waves and high winds to rescue his mother and siblings who had been blown out to sea. 

Austen denied these accolades hailing him a hero saying I just did what I had to do. 

Austen was a strong swimmer for a thirteen-year-old. He had recently attempted but failed to swim 350 metres to achieve the next level certificate in his summer swimming program. That’s why his mother had sent him back to shore when she realised, they were in trouble and being swept further out to sea. She underestimated however, the swim Austen would have to make. 

Austen’s kayak sank, his life preserver was cumbersome and slowing him down. He ditched it. He kept on swimming, far further than he had ever swum before. The winds and waves kept pushing him back. 

For four hours he battled against the ocean, telling himself, “Not today. Not today,” and thinking of positive things (Thomas the Tank Engine and his girlfriend) and praying. Austen is a Christian child from a faith filled family. He attends Mundaring Christian College in Perth, WA. The principal of his school is Doug Holtham whose wife was a staff member at Christway college and whose children attended our school. 

Upon reaching shore Austen had to run another two kilometres in the gathering darkness to get back to where his family’s belonging lay on the sand with the precious phone that would enable him to call 000. All his family were rescued, and they were reunited in hospital a little worse for wear but safe and well. 

Austen insists he is not a superhero, and he is right. 

What Austen discovered was the incredible well of strength courage and resilience which God has built into us and of which we are unaware until crisis calls on us to dig deep and discover the strength that is ours when God’s power is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Resilience does not look like strength. Resilience kicks in at that moment when we feel weak. When we despair and say, “I can’t do it,” but we keep going anyway. That’s Godly strength at work within us. 

That’s when the transforming power of God kicks in, moulding us and reshaping us, bringing out the maturity and potential we possess, to become the person God knows we can be. 

James 1:2–4 says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything".

Austen had to swim the four kilometres. God did not shorten the swim he had to do, but God was with him in the wind and waves. Austen was not alone in his difficulty.

Austen will not be the same person after his mammoth swim. He will have been transformed by discovering what he is capable of when pushed to his limit. And so it is with us. “After you have suffered a little while, [God] will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10).

Our students will face difficulties. They may fall behind in their VSV work or their Maths homework, they may find a book just too hard to read, or an essay too demanding to write, an assignment too long, a speaking assessment too terrifying, but each of them is an Austen Applebee inside. He’s not special, Austen just found out what he had inside himself all along. May the same be true for each of us. 

Angela Landy

Head of Academic Culture