A Lusio Family Sibling Story

In last month’s Lusio Talks we featured a great organisation, Siblings Australia, and the wonderful work they do in recognising and supporting siblings in families with disability.  It got us thinking at the time about the siblings within the Lusio Family and what we at Lusio could do to help foster and nurture sibling relationships.   Prompted by a small aside comment from her mother Karen, I decided to reach out to the Keith family and see if Roxy Keith, sister of our magnificent Brand Ambassador Arran, would like to be featured in this month’s Lusio Talks.  

Now There's An Idea

A few weeks back, when I was talking to Karen about working with the family, and Arran in particular, Karen made a comment along the lines of Roxy, or ‘Rox’ as she affectionately refers to her daughter, having plenty to offer and say, should we get time for a big Lusio / Team Keith Zoom catch up.  When putting together the Siblings Australia article Karen’s comment kept coming into my head, and I knew that we just had to give some Lusio Talks space to Roxy.

Lusio Family...Meet Roxy

Well I put together a few interview questions to find out more about her, and she was very kind enough to give me some of her time and respond. In her first year of high school, Year 7, at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney, it turns out that Roxy is every bit the athlete as her younger brother Arran.  She’s a passionate swimmer with a dream to one day swim in the 50m Freestyle at the Olympics.  It’ll come as no surprise then to find out that her sporting heroes are the legendary five time Olympic Champion Ian Thorpe, and the swimming siblings Cate and Bronte Campbell.  There’s something quite poetic about the inspiration Roxy gets from the Campbell sisters since her dream of getting to the Olympics is one she shares with her own sibling.  Another thing they share in common is a massive respect for the athletic genius of Kurt Fearnley; and why wouldn't they?  What an incredible sportsman he was and role model he continues to be.

Roxy and LusioMATE

I was also keen to find out if Roxy played Lusio and if so what her favourite game was.  She most certainly does and Lusio Jumping Rabbit is her favourite.  Why? ‘Because it makes you work really hard.’  Now is that not the answer of a potential future Olympic Champ?  It seems that the competitive spirit is in the family DNA and I asked her about this too.    Knowing full well how competitive Arran is, I asked Roxy if she was competitive too, and if so, where she thought it came from.  The answer was simple:  yes I am, very, and it’s a family thing!  If that wasn’t enough to paint the picture, then her clear follow up statement that she is the most competitive in the family surely does.  That said, she later let it slip that the real winner of the 'most competitive in the family award’ was her Nana; as competitive as anyone by all accounts back in the day. I have to say it’s a good thing that Nana can take the crown, because were Roxy and Arran to sit down and argue the toss on that one I think they’d be in for the long haul. I couldn't imagine either of them conceding much ground fast!

Outside of Sport

When she’s not swimming Roxy’s just as you’d imagine a young girl to be.  She loves nothing more than to spend the day on the beach with her friends, and if the weather's no good for that, she’s likely found at home laughing away at her favourite TV show: Brooklyn 99 on Netflix.  And away from all that she's quite an accomplished highland dancer, drawing on the rich heritage of Dad Richard. But all that aside, I can’t imagine she finds much time for idling because all my intel tells me she's pretty darn dedicated to her sport, and going toe to toe with her brother. 

Roxy the highland dancer.

Healthy Competition

All the signs to me are that the competitive nature of Team Keith is the epitome of healthy competition, and a fundamental part of the family bond.  I know for a fact that Roxy and Arran are incredibly supportive of each other, and it’s a delight to behold in pictures and videos that the family have shared with us.  As much as we are all massively behind Arran and his Paralympic dream, so too now, thanks to this interview that she granted us, are we behind Roxy’s dream.  Citing her 32 sec for 50m Freestyle as her proudest accomplishment, I’d say there is no stopping her in that quest.  We’d love nothing more than to be sat in the stands or glued to the TV in 2024 or 2028 screaming ‘Go Rox!!’