With mountains stretching as far as the eye can see, the lifestyle wasn't one that required a lot of beach activity.

So unsurprisingly, Mrs Rajan admitted not only was keeping her head above water a daunting prospect, but so too was going for a dip at the local beach.

That was until she moved to Port Macquarie 10 years ago.

"During my childhood it was normal not to know how to swim; my dad is 73 and he doesn't know how to," she said.

"I had no ability; it was more of a disability because I could drown myself because I could stay vertical, but wasn't sure how to stay horizontal (in the water)."

The mother-of-two then signed up for the CanToo Foundation in December last year at a point where swimming from one end of her seven-metre backyard pool was considered an achievement.

"Slowly I got confident because of the smallest things they celebrated; the first time I went to Flynns Beach I swam a small distance and then people clapped and I realised I could do it."

But she said it wouldn't have been possible without the effort and patience of coach Mel Cockshutt.

Fast forward another four months and Rajan was poised to participate in the Balmoral Swim For Cancer - a one-kilometre effort inside Sydney Harbour.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant it couldn't go ahead last weekend, but Rajan had still achieved a goal she genuinely thought was unachievable.

And it had nothing to do with what lurked beneath the surface.

"Everybody spoke about sharks when it came to ocean swimming, but it was more I needed to have my own space around me," she said.

"I would panic when I had a lot of people around me, because I still haven't learned how to tread water, but mainly it was that I needed people in my range of sight."

Rajan then successfully completed a one-kilometre swim a few weeks ago at Pilot Beach which opened her eyes to the beauty of the ocean.

"It's the most beautiful thing to be able to swim in the ocean," she said.

"The first time I did it at Flynns Beach I didn't know how calm it was behind the waves so that was my happy place."

Now, having an ability to swim will ensure she can share many moments in the ocean with her children.

"The best word is calming," she said.

"I've never experienced anything like that before and I would love my kids to learn ocean swimming so they can have that sort of experience.

"But I still have a lot of room to improve."

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