But today the 17-year-old will only be thinking of his twin sister Bethany, who tragically died of a suspected suicide last year.
As part of World Suicide Prevention Day, Nico is set to swim 16km to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation.
He wants people to talk about mental health and wishes more than anything his sister had opened up about what she was going through.
“Obviously she had very bad depression, she was losing a lot of weight but she kept it private. I didn’t really know about it until everything happened,” he said.
Nico decided to swim the gruelling distance to mark his sister being 16-years-old at the time of her death.
For the past three years, Nico has been training at the Waitaha Swim Club, based at the Canterbury Swim School in Hornby, where the swim will be held today.
Nico’s mother Keiran Horne said Bethany, who attended Hagley Community College, struggled following the February 22, 2011, earthquake.
She was located at Redcliffs School at the time of the quake.
“You could imagine it was pretty traumatic with the cliffs coming down so for years after Beth had trouble sleeping.
Ms Horne said she is immensely proud of Nico, who came up with the idea of the swim and organised the event himself.
She said Bethany had a beautiful soul and was loved by many, but a lot of people didn’t realise the struggles she was going through.
Ms Horne said there needs to be more education and talk about dealing mental health issues.
“I have always been a really open communicator with my children, but when we had to start to deal with issues around mental health I actually really struggled to know how to talk about it in the best way.”
The distance of the swim is a difficult undertaking for anyone, but especially for Nico.
He was born with a type of cerebral palsy called hemiplegia, which means Nico has limited mobility in his right arm and leg.
But Nico, who is transgender, is a high achiever. Last year he was named the best para-swimmer at the Canterbury secondary swimming championships. One of his big goals is to make it to the Paralympics and pave the way for other transgender people to do the same.
Since his sister’s death, Nico said he has been coping as well as he can, but is taking it one day at a time.
The spotlight is on mental health issues which are at an all-time high in Canterbury.
Police statistics showed 4369 attempted suicide events in Canterbury were reported in 2018, up 59 per cent from 2015.
Ms Horne said she wants people who may be feeling the way her daughter did to know there is always hope.
•Everyone is welcome to support and cheer Nico on during his swim, which starts at 9am at the Canterbury Swim School, 25 Charente Way. If you want to support Nico’s effort, donations can be made at the Givealittle page
https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/nicos-16-kilometer-swim.
Where to get help:
If you are worried about your own or someone else’s mental health, visit your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call police immediately on 111. Or if you need someone to talk to phone:
•LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7)
•SUICIDE CRISIS HELPLINE: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
•YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633
•NEED TO TALK? Free call or text 1737 (available 24/7)
•KIDSLINE: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7)
•WHATSUP: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm)
•DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757
