Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / 1st Combat Service Support Battalion Captain Anita Price says soldiers are doing a 24 hour swim really today, raising funds for mental health

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1st Combat Service Support Battalion Captain Anita Price says soldiers are doing a 24 hour swim really today, raising funds for mental health · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now, Northern Territory soldiers are soon going to undertake twenty
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  Speaker 1: four hour swim relay to raise awareness and money for
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  Speaker 1: mental health research. Now, when I say soon going to undertake,
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  Speaker 1: I mean like in half an hour they're about to
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  Speaker 1: do this. So soldiers from one Combat Service Support Battalion,
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  Speaker 1: they're going to be continuously swimming laps of robertson barrackspool
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  Speaker 1: in a bid to raise more than five thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: for the Black Dog Institute. Organizer Captain Anita Price joins
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  Speaker 1: me in the studio right now.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Anita.
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  Speaker 3: One and Katie, thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, great to have you in the studio.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what made you think, all right, I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: we're going to swim for twenty four hours for mental health.
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  Speaker 4: Well, it's actually a bit of a longer term thing
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  Speaker 4: that we've been doing. So each year we come up
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  Speaker 4: with a different charity, something that affects our soldiers. So
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  Speaker 4: previously in twenty twenty, we had a soldier whose mother
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  Speaker 4: was diagnosed with breast cancer and we did Crank It
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  Speaker 4: for Cancer, which was a twelve hundred cycle through Kakadu
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  Speaker 4: where we raised.
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  Speaker 3: Eleven thousand dollars for breast cancer research.
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  Speaker 4: And then last year my warrant officer, his father was
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  Speaker 4: diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, so we did a twelve hour
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  Speaker 4: paddle for Parkinson's where we raised another five thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 4: So this year we thought we'd come together for something
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  Speaker 4: that affects not only soldiers but families and all Australians
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  Speaker 4: being mental health.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's such a good cause, such a good
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  Speaker 1: thing to be doing, and you know, getting active and
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  Speaker 1: really trying to raise money for such a wonderful cause
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  Speaker 1: is a fantastic thing. But I've got to tell you,
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  Speaker 1: a twenty four hour swim relay it does sound like
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  Speaker 1: hard work.
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  Speaker 3: It sure does.
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  Speaker 4: But we will work together as a team, and we've
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  Speaker 4: invited the families of friends to come along and support
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  Speaker 4: and do a couple of laps and we'll get through
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  Speaker 4: it all together.
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  Speaker 2: So, Anita, this is kicking off in about half an hour.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's correct.
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  Speaker 4: So I'll have to duck off factor to make this
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  Speaker 4: start timing for that.
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  Speaker 2: How many laps are you planning on swimming?
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  Speaker 4: So I'm jump on and I'm doing three hours between
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  Speaker 4: four pm and seven pm and then I'll be doing
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  Speaker 4: the eight pm till four am.
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  Speaker 2: That's going to be a hard time slot. And swing
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  Speaker 2: in the dark.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I know you'll have the lights there, but
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  Speaker 1: swing at nighttime it can be not scary, but just
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  Speaker 1: a bit different.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 3: Oh it's safe than swimming in the ocean and dale though.
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  Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
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  Speaker 1: So talk me through how the relay's working. How many
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  Speaker 1: people are swimming at any one time. It's a fifty
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  Speaker 1: meter pool. How many kilometers are they going to swim
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  Speaker 1: at any one time?
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  Speaker 4: So it'll be a bit of a competition between the
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  Speaker 4: sub units that we have within the battalion. So there'll
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  Speaker 4: be three lanes at any one time, and they'll be
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  Speaker 4: going until they're fatigued or need a bit of a break.
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  Speaker 4: So we envisaged them swimming anywhere between eight hundred to
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  Speaker 4: a kilometer at one time before they break, their friends
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  Speaker 4: go through, and then when they're ready, they just jump
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  Speaker 4: back in.
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  Speaker 1: And any amazing swimmers on the team that you're thinking, oh,
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  Speaker 1: this person's going to carry us.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got a few of those. It's not me.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wonderful. Now, how many people are taking part?
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  Speaker 3: Did you say about three hundred?
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  Speaker 2: About three hundred.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, that's a wonderful, wonderful number, and we'll make things
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  Speaker 1: slightly easier. But it is all about raising money as well,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it. How much you're hoping to raise.
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  Speaker 3: We're hoping for five thousand dollars. But it's a dual purpose.
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  Speaker 4: So whilst raising money is great for the research, our
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  Speaker 4: big focus is on raising the awareness and destigmatizing mental health.
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  Speaker 4: So we've done a bit about it that this year.
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  Speaker 4: So we created an activity called Exercise Apollo being the
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  Speaker 4: God of Wellbeing where we focused on mental health workshops
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  Speaker 4: and just just getting out there talking about it and
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  Speaker 4: just destigmatizing and normalizing it and making sure people can
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  Speaker 4: get help.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is such a good thing to do.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, being active as well is such a
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  Speaker 1: great thing for your mental health in so many different ways.
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  Speaker 1: And then sort of being around the people that you
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  Speaker 1: work with and your friends to do that can only
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  Speaker 1: be a good thing.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what we're hoping for because that's a big
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  Speaker 4: part about the Army.
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  Speaker 3: It's about matship and I've been there for one another.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I love the fact that family and friends
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  Speaker 1: can come along as well, so they'll be there cheering
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  Speaker 1: you guys on.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and then more than one. I've come to jump
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  Speaker 3: in and swim some laps too.
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  Speaker 2: Ah, good stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it is wonderful to speak to you this morning,
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  Speaker 1: Anita and find out a bit more about it. And
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  Speaker 1: so you you're the organizer for this one, aren't.
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  Speaker 3: You, as with the army team effort.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, good stuff.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's incredible and really interested to see how
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  Speaker 1: many kilometers you all end up doing combined. Is there
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  Speaker 1: any sort of aim or any number that's come to
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  Speaker 1: mind that you think you're going to be able to crack.
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  Speaker 3: Ooh? I haven't had to think about that. I was
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  Speaker 3: just hoping to keep going for twenty four hours.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be incredible to see just how many
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  Speaker 1: kilometers you cover. There's going to be some serious kilometers you.
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  Speaker 3: Have to do the mass on that one.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, make sure you let us know.
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  Speaker 1: It'd be really keen to find out exactly how many
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  Speaker 1: kilometers have done, particularly when there is quite a large
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  Speaker 1: number of you.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's fantastic. Good on you, Thank you,