The angels who gave a butterflyer his wings

A leap of faith ... Mitch Patterson at Collaroy rock pool with young fans yesterday. Photo: Dean Sewell IN November last year, swimmer Mitch Patterson blitzed the field at the Singapore World Cup to become the fastest Australian ever in the 100 metres butterfly. What nobody saw was the army of children pushing him along. ''I wouldn't have been over there if wasn't for them,'' says the 23-year-old from Davidson, in Sydney's north. ''I had huge support, and that gave me the mental edge to push my body over the line.'' In August, on the comeback from a shoulder injury, Patterson had narrowly missed selection for the Australian team travelling to Singapore. Undeterred, he asked head coach Alan Thompson whether he could compete if he paid his own way. When Thompson said yes, Patterson's supporters swung into action. Advertisement: Story continues below ''That night we had a Facebook page up, and the next morning we started contacting T-shirt companies,'' says Daniel Rifkin, Patterson's friend and co-manager. Donations were sought. Swim clubs including the Warringah Aquatic Piranhas and the Lindfield Yellow Ducks - with 250 primary school Rosetta Stone children Patterson regularly helps to coach - dug deep. Within six weeks, Patterson had the $7000 he needed. In Singapore Patterson swam the race of his life. In the heats he clocked 51.47 seconds, placing him at fifth-fastest for the final. In the final, he swam two seconds faster at 49.51 to set Commonwealth and Australian records. ''When I finished the race and looked at the scoreboard I thought it was wrong. I couldn't believe it. But while I was swimming, I knew it was going to be a fast time, because at the turn I saw I was about a second ahead.'' Yesterday, Patterson was at Collaroy's rock pool, competing in social races with children and adults. It was tough. The races were handicapped, so he started 10 seconds behind the field in the 50-metres freestyle. ''My first swimming competition was here at Collaroy rock pool when I was five. I remember getting mouthfuls of saltwater.'' Patterson's dad and granddad both competed at Collaroy. David Lorimer, chief marshal at Collaroy Amateur Swimming Club, says: ''We had an Olympian come from here. Mark Anderson. He went to Mexico in 1968.'' In those days the club used to raffle a new car. For amateur swim clubs, fundraising is a continuing race. Patterson plans to pay back his supporters. ''If I can give back what I've learnt and convert it to a language kids can understand, then I feel I can help.''

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