We're assisting to shine a light on the achievements of our local North Queensland sports stars through our support of the Queensland Country North Queensland Sports Awards to be held this Saturday night in Mission Beach.
It is time to cheer on our local North Queensland sports achievers like Joel!
Meet Joel Joel Mundie the Cairns Regional Council nominee for the Queensland Country Credit Union North Queensland Sportstar Awards for the category athlete with a disability.
Joel has a condition called Transverse Myelitis that he contracted at six months of age. He took up the sport of swimming at 11 years old as a form of fitness and the feeling of freedom it gave him on his legs when in the water.
Shoot forward two years and no-one in the Mundie household would ever have imagined how much the sport of swimming and the discipline it gives has shaped Joel into who he is today.
He started swimming local events, then onto Far North Queensland’s, then onto State Championships and this year took on the Age nationals in Sydney where he brought home nine Australian records for his Multi class classification.
These records along with multiple Queensland Records, FNQ Multi Class swimmer of the year and his Central Cairns Swimming club awards take pride on his bedroom wall.
The family are not sure where this journey will end but Joel is pretty certain he will cross it off his list and go the Paralympics one day.
Joel dropped into his local branch where the staff wished him all the best with his nomination for the awards night this Saturday in Mission Beach.