A shark attack survivor is one of the competitors at this year's Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast, which is back after a four-year hiatus.
Raised in an avid swimming family, 63-year-old Damon Kendrick lost his lower right leg in a shark attack when he was just 14.
"I can remember almost everything, second by second, in technicolour," Mr Kenrick said.
"The shark had taken the whole of my calf muscle; my brother put his surfboard leash on my leg as a tourniquet to stop the blood."
But putting pressure on a graze on his other leg caused the South African more pain.
"My calf was in tatters," he recalled.
"That I couldn't feel, but I had to ask them to move their thumb because that was causing me pain."
Dolphin mind games
Mr Kenrick has never experienced post-traumatic stress or nightmares over the attack.
But ahead of the Masters ocean swim he will recite a mantra about dolphins to fend off paranoia about what might await him in the sea.
"It calms me down and I get on with the job," Mr Kendrick said.
More than 13,000 participants will compete in 44 sports over 10 days at the games.
The last event in 2018 attracted 20,000 participants.
Events Management Queensland general manager Cameron Hart said COVID had wiped out participation sports, but he was confident about competitors returning.
'We'll bounce back" Mr Hart said.
Multi-million-dollar boost
Participants are coming from every Australian state and territory as well as countries including Japan, Guam, and India.
Many of the athletes bring friends and family in what has proven to be a tourism boost for previous hosts.
The 2022 Pan Pacific Masters Games are expected to inject $20 million into the Gold Coast economy.
"Over the years there have been weddings, vigils, and who knows what else," Mr Hart said.
The event has always been open to different sports.
One of them, pickleball, will be played near the Currumbin RSL and has attracted hundreds of entries.
"It's one of those fabulous sports that comes out of nowhere and takes over," Mr Hart said.
Competing in the 2022 games has been a decade-long dream for Victorian callisthenics athlete Sonia Chapple.
She had a liver transplant 10 years ago, then a pancreas transplant and was told she might need a kidney transplant.
"I'm like, 'Please, no'," she said
"I don't want to be the only person that I know of to get three separate, individual organs.
"I'm incredibly grateful to both of my donors; I'm super, super excited!
"I've loved callisthenics my entire life, and I love being part of a team."
