A scene from Radheya Jegatheva’s 2001 short Pacing the Pool.

A LITTLE film about a local swimmer at Beatty Park Leisure Centre is making waves around the world with more than 80 festivals picking it up for screening. 

Young director Radheya Jegatheva’s 2001 short Pacing the Pool even got the nod at an Academy Award-qualifying event, a milestone on the long road to getting an Oscars nomination. 

The honourable mention in the “most inspirational film” category at the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival means Pacing the Pool can be submitted into a group that makes up a shortlist for Oscar contention. Made as part of the Revelation/City of Vincent film festival, Pacing the Pool tells the story of local swimmer Richard Pace who has the bone-weakening condition polyostotic fibrous dysplasia.

“I’m 64,” Mr Pace says in the film. “That’s nearly 30 years since I was supposed to be in a wheelchair. And that’s only, in my view, because I’m in the pool every day.”

The film’s been shown or has upcoming screenings at 83 festivals around the world including those held in the Russian Ural mountains, Sao Paolo Brazil and Los Angeles.