Tassie Coordinator Swims Icy Waves for Youth Mental Health

News story from Tasmanian Times, published 30 September 2025

BREAK O’DAY YOUTH CO-ORDINATOR BRAVES THE OCEAN WAVES TO RAISE MONEY FOR YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION

It’s 06:00 at Taylors ocean beach in The Gardens on Tasmania’s north-east coast, just near St Helens in the shire of Break O’Day.

The sea temperature is a stinging 8-12°C and Casey Musicka is pushing against the swell off-shore, no wetsuit, cranking out up to 20 minutes before the cold seeps in deep to her muscles. She’s past the initial ‘cold shock response’ but her hands, feet and face are numb. The exercise is keeping her core temperature up but Casey knows there’s only a short window before fine motor skills and co-ordination decline and hypothermia creeps in.

“Cold-water swimming is something I have done over the last few years on the east coast of Tasmania to really support my own physical and mental health,” she says.

“It is such a powerful way to just hit pause on all the thoughts and worries of life and just be totally present in the moment and my body. You come out of the ocean feeling so high on life, you feel more energised and refreshed in ways you just don’t get elsewhere.”

This year, she has an extra incentive.

From 1-28 October she’s swimming in the annual national swim challenge LAP it UP, raising funds with every icy stroke to support young people’s mental health and prevent suicide.

It’s a cause she feels particularly passionate about. Casey is the local Co-ordinator for Live4Life Break O’Day, a community-based program led by Fingal Valley Neighbourhood House, which brings together a broad partnership of local organisations along with district high schools St Marys and St Helens. The program delivers evidence-based mental health education to students in Years 8 and 10/11, as well as to adults in the wider community. Uniquely, it also trains young leaders in Years 9 and 10 as Mental Health Ambassadors in the Live4Life ‘Crew’. Casey says working with Live4Life Crew offers “so many opportunities to the young people who embark on this journey.”

Casey first found out about Live4Life in 2019 when she was researching which suicide prevention programs are out there for young people.

“Community-led initiatives really get me fired up as this, I believe is such a massive driving force in seeing sustainable change for people longer term.

“Seeing the commitment and passion from our schools and community — this really gives me a sense of pride and drive in what we are achieving and working towards.”

Now in its second year, Break O’Day is the first community in Tasmania to implement the Live4Life model — made possible through funding from the Federal Government’s National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program (NSPLSP) which, importantly, includes a two year evaluation of its impact by the University of Tasmania.

The UTAS progress report delivered in June this year indicated over 150 students and 40 adults have completed Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) education. It found that the program had ‘improved mental health literacy and encouraged open conversations’, ‘reduced stigma and increased help-seeking and help-supporting behaviours’ and ‘strengthened connections between young people, their peers and trusted adults’. It also reported that ‘88.9% of adults now felt confident supporting young people (up from 45%)’ and among students, ‘understanding that mental health is a real medical issue rose from 44.8% to 82.1%’.

This is what motivates Casey when she swims for LAP it UP.

“I try and focus on the feeling post swim and the why I got involved and I find that gets me in the zone to push on.

“I just sort of flounder about as I have never been taught to swim properly!

“Thank you to all who contribute in any and all ways. We are making positive change for our young people and their future.”

In 2024, LAP it UP drew over 700 swimmers across more than 80 towns and cities across Australia and raised over $93,000 to support the Live4Life program in rural and regional communities.

This year, over 900 have signed up along with Casey.

Since Live4Life began in 2010, the model has been implemented in 14 communities in Victoria and Tasmania. To date, across all Live4Life communities, over 33,500 young people and 3,331 adults have received mental health education and an incredible 1799 young people have volunteered as mental health ambassadors in the Live4Life Crews.

More information: lapitup.org.au