A few short years ago, swimmer Jenna Jones was losing her vision, her confidence, and her identity – but now as she heads to Manchester to be in the first ever vision impaired races at the Commonwealth Games, she is a completely different person.
“Honestly, it is such a cliché, but I feel like anything is possible now,’’ the 21-year-old said.
Jenna was a child who sat very close to the TV and couldn’t see the whiteboard at school. Her mum Therese just thought she needed glasses and never expected to hear she had genetic blindness.
“Then the specialist told us: ‘she could go blind any day’. I just couldn’t take it in.’’
There is still much that is unknown about vision loss and its many causes. Jenna was referred to a geneticist, Professor Robyn Jamieson at Children’s Medical Research Institute, who was able to pinpoint the gene which caused here condition, known as Cone-Rod Dystrophy.
“You think to yourself, ‘why has this happened to me?’ I am one of six kids – why am I different to my siblings? It was so exciting to get the gene information. It is like having an extra piece of the puzzle. Now I know this is just the cards I have been dealt. It has helped me to understand more about myself.’’
Jenna knew she wanted to be a swimmer but adjusting to the changes in her vision were tough. She has been to Pan Pacific Games, World Championships, and even made it to the Rio Olympics, but injury and sickness has held her back. She also wasn’t enjoying her swimming.
Growing up in Sydney’s Blue Mountains, her mother drove her to training at Homebush every day. That meant getting up at 3.30am and sitting in the car for four hours a day. At the same time, she was being bullied at school so decided to leave and finish her HSC at TAFE.
However, the biggest change came at the end of 2021 when Jenna took the plunge and moved to Australia’s unofficial heart of swimming – the Sunshine Coast. She trains with a team of 12 para-athletes and 10 of them are going to the Games together. This includes her best friend and gold medal winning Paralympian Emily Beecroft.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so grateful for the change,’’ she said. “I feel so much stronger. I’ve got muscles I’ve never seen before. I have so much support. I’m a lot more confident. In the past, if I got nervous that would stress me out, but now I work with the team psychologist and I have the tools to cool myself down.
“It 100% feels like a family. My whole outlook is so different. Everyone has the same mindset. When the sessions are hard, everyone supports each other.’’
While Jenna’s vision continues to deteriorate, with more blind spots and losing a lot of detail, she has teammates who understand.
“Swimming’s been great. I’m in this situation where I’m now around people who understand what I’m going through. I tell them a symptom and they say ‘I get that too’’ so I don’t feel like I’m going crazy. It is very cool to be around people in the same situation.’’
She is not aiming for anything other than a personal best in the 50m freestyle at Manchester and is going to be celebrating Jeans for Genes Day on August 5th while she’s away, encouraging people to donate to the charity that raises funds for Children’s Medical Research Institute who gave her answers but are also working on treatments for genetic eye diseases.
“The research they are doing is incredible. Maybe they can find a way to stop my sight deteriorating. That would be amazing.’’
Jenna also has some advice for other “sporty’’ kids facing vision loss.
“Find a modified sport and give it a go, just find your passion. If you think you can’t do something, just find a way. Anything really is possible. Don’t give up on yourself.’’