Tauranga
doctor joins
fight against
Bay's meth
epidemic
This month Tauranga Hospital
Psychiatrist Bronwyn Copeland
is taking on the epic challenge
of a 40 km swim across Lake
Taupō raising money for the
local P Not Once campaign.
Bronwyn Copeland with her support crew after she finished first in the 22km Apolima Strait swim near
Samoa last year.
Earlier this month her story below featured in
the BOP Times Lifestyle Magazine Indulge. Copeland is no stranger to big swims. In April last year she
finished first in the 22km Apolima Strait near Samoa. But this is
nearly twice that distance.
Tauranga doctor is braving an epic 40km cold water swim by
torchlight to join the fight against the Bay's methamphetamine
epidemic. "I learnt a lot from that race last year.
Bronwyn Copeland, a doctor at Tauranga hospital who is
passionate about preventing mental illness, is using the
swim across Lake Taupō to support a local campaign, P Not
Once, to raise awareness about the devastating effects of
methamphetamine in the Bay.
Mother-of-two Copeland wants to do what she can to help,
particularly to help influence teenagers who are being offered
the drug.
"That drug is a scourge on our community. The P Not Once
campaign targets teenagers and is aiming for a generational shift
through a confronting Facebook campaign."
Copeland will attempt the 40.2km crossing from Tūrangi to Taupō
on February 24. It will take anywhere from 12 to 14 hours and she
will start the race in the dark at 3am.
"I will have glow torches to guide me. I need to try and beat the wind."
Temperature will also be a challenge.
"I'm not allowed a wetsuit and the lake will be around 19 degrees."
But her biggest challenge will be mental.
"According to others, you can enter a very 'dark place' between
the 20-30km mark. Hopefully the amount of training I've done will
help me cope with physical exhaustion."
Bronwyn's brave attempt at Lake Taupō will help raise awareness
and much-needed funds for our campaign. She is a very brave
lady, all to help our campaign to prevent teenagers from ever
trying this deadly drug."
With less than a month before the race, she has been clocking up
to 50km a week for over six months.
12
"It was really rough and my support crew vomited the entire 7.5
hours. I remember saying I would never do anything like that again."
On the weekend of February 23 she will be supported by New
Zealand swimming legend Phil Rush.
He holds the record for the double and triple crossing of the
English Channel. He has also completed a double crossing of the
Cook Strait and Lake Taupō. He will be accompanying her in an
IRB with her swimming buddy, Neil McClean.
She hopes to use this event as a stepping stone to cross the Cook
strait next year, in which she will also raise funds for the fight
against P.
• Any support for this event and the P Not Once campaign will be
welcomed. Donate by direct debit to 031720002114600. All funds
will go towards the charity.
P Not Once
The idea for P Not Once was created by two local women, Lavina
Good and Jessica Wright, and aims to create more awareness
about the devastating effects of methamphetamine in the
community.
The Youth Wright Charitable Trust has worked with partners to
develop a series of short educational videos for social media and
a 30-minute classroom documentary designed to demonstrate the
risks and consequences of using methamphetamine.
The goal is to create a generational shift by giving 13 to 25-year-
olds the tools and knowledge to say no when they are offered
P. The generational shift is a well-proven concept for changing
attitudes seen in the successful campaigns of wearing seatbelts
and not smoking. By targeting the message onto the younger
generation over time, the attitude has completely changed.