Swimmer reflects on shock discovery before major event
The champion Masters swimmer, then 47, never imagined she'd be also be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in the weeks before she hit the water.
"It was the most surreal feeling, just to be feeling so strong and so healthy and wanting to get involved in this fundraiser for other people that I cared about and then finding myself in that exact spot," Ms Wellington told AAP.
"It just kind of highlights that cancer does not discriminate."
Still reeling from her own health shock, she and about 100 others relished the chance to take a dip in the freezing cold water off Adelaide's Henley Beach.
They raised almost $7000.
"In that water was just pure joy, everyone put aside their grief, fear and everything else and just had fun with it," she said.
This year, she's organised two swims to raise money for Daffodil Day on August 21 with participants urged to don bright yellow - the colour of hope - and lean into their inner silliness.
"It's easy to brush off, there's such a need for money for everything and I think people do get a little bit compassion fatigued," she said.
"But you're talking about cancer in particular, affecting one in two people in their lifetime."
About 8000 people have signed up for Daffodil Day Dips around the nation this year, a quirky fundraiser on top of daffodil stalls and thousands of workplace fundraisers aiming to raise $4 million nationally.
The money raised through the Cancer Council will mainly go towards research.
That includes work to understand risk factors, improve diagnosis, public health prevention and clinical trials of new drugs, including medicines with fewer side effects.
Peter Diamond is general manager of support and research at the Cancer Council.
He said while almost 170,000 Australians were diagnosed with cancer in the last year and almost 53,000 patients died, the world was "absolutely" getting closer to cures for certain forms.
The overall survival rate within five year of a diagnosis has drastically improved, going from 52 per cent in 1989/93 up to 70 per cent in 2014/18.
Dr Diamond said knowledge, treatments and research were rapidly improving but more work was needed to be done - and funded.
"I do think that we're always on the precipice of something new and exciting," he said.
"We're now implementing all these new technologies which many years ago were considered complete science fiction.
"As we get a better understanding and as technology improves, the things that used to take us really long time to do now don't take us long."
Ms Wellington knows times are tough for many Australians but wants people to know it's still valuable to donate just a few extra dollars to help improve outcomes for patients.
"They're making such amazing advances in research for cancer, but it needs to keep going and the only way to get that is to keep holding these kinds of events," she said.
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Read more from The Senior: Mr Ettershank said it's been a "Godsend" to be able to be prescribed approved medicinal cannabis to treat his auto-immune condition Polymyalgia Rheumatica, and ongoing chronic back pain from an injury, though admits it's not a "miracle cure for all ailments". The Senior understands only two medicinal cannabis products have been approved by the TGA, meaning many other products are accessed through the unapproved goods scheme. "Telehealth is an important mechanism to improve access to health services - but these direct-to-consumer, single-issue models lack clear referral pathways or a feedback loop to GPs and as the TGA has acknowledged, this requires much broader consideration by government," said AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen. 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"It's a relatively new industry, having only been around for 10 years, and it is appropriate that we pause occasionally to reflect on what is happening," he said. "I'm concerned that the scope of their consultation is limited, and it is not an inquiry by multiple agencies .... I'd like to see a holistic approach to regulation, reform, safety and quality in the medicinal cannabis sector, but we look forward to participating in the consultation." Further details on the consultation can be found at For enquiries relating to this public consultation, please email MedicinalCannabisReforms@ The closing date for this consultation is 23.59 AEST on October 7 2025. All submissions received by the deadline, will be considered by the TGA. Cowboy doctors have been put on notice, as telehealth services prescribing unapproved medicinal cannabis to seniors and other vulnerable Australians come under the microscope. Experts have welcomed a move by the government's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to review the safety and regulatory framework for medicinal cannabis products after increasing public and professional concern. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said cannabis products are being prescribed at "alarming rates through direct-to-consumer telehealth models". Victorian MP and user of medicinal cannabis, David Ettershank, welcomed the review which includes a callout for public comment, and said it was "long overdue". "There has been a meteoric rise in the use of medicinal cannabis, and that is clear from all the data from the state and federal levels," he told The Senior. "The seniors' market is one of the fastest growing sectors for the medicinal cannabis industry, because of its ability to help with pain, arthritis, stress and sleep management." Read more from The Senior: Mr Ettershank said it's been a "Godsend" to be able to be prescribed approved medicinal cannabis to treat his auto-immune condition Polymyalgia Rheumatica, and ongoing chronic back pain from an injury, though admits it's not a "miracle cure for all ailments". The Senior understands only two medicinal cannabis products have been approved by the TGA, meaning many other products are accessed through the unapproved goods scheme. "Telehealth is an important mechanism to improve access to health services - but these direct-to-consumer, single-issue models lack clear referral pathways or a feedback loop to GPs and as the TGA has acknowledged, this requires much broader consideration by government," said AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen. 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"It's a relatively new industry, having only been around for 10 years, and it is appropriate that we pause occasionally to reflect on what is happening," he said. "I'm concerned that the scope of their consultation is limited, and it is not an inquiry by multiple agencies .... I'd like to see a holistic approach to regulation, reform, safety and quality in the medicinal cannabis sector, but we look forward to participating in the consultation." Further details on the consultation can be found at For enquiries relating to this public consultation, please email MedicinalCannabisReforms@ The closing date for this consultation is 23.59 AEST on October 7 2025. All submissions received by the deadline, will be considered by the TGA.
