"I think swimming's the best gift you can give your child," says Lynda, a school teacher at Frimley School.
"We live in New Zealand, which is surrounded by water, and we have lakes, rivers, oceans and pools so children need to be able to save themselves and be water confident," she says, emphasising that you can't expect schools to teach children how to swim.
Consequently she and husband Carl, a nurse, were committed to ensuring their only child, who also has asthma, was adept at swimming.
"It's very good for her breathing," says Lynda, revealing they gave their daughter a choice to stop at the end of Heretaunga Intermediate if she wished.
The love of swimming won, so much so that Allen had no qualms about turfing aside her ballet slippers for goggles, togs and a cap.
"It wasn't really your thing, eh, Kate?" her mother asks as the pair nod in agreement between laughter.
"The time in practising and all was too much so she gave it up."
The teenager's memories of childhood days of swimming revolve around her grandmother, Margaret Maultsaid, of Hastings, chauffeuring her to pools every week for endless laps.
But it was coach Marlene Elers, from the Beaumont sessions, who honed Allen's skills in breathing and timing her strokes.
Ironically, Elers is the one who ritualistically picks up Allen at 5am to attend trainings with granddaughter Jadah, 15, of Karamu High School, who also won a gold and two silvers at the division two champs in Invercargill in her age group.
"Jadah and I are training buddies now," says Allen of her fellow Greendale Swimming Club member.
A grinning Lynda says they are indebted to Marlene, who does the morning runs while the Allens pick up the night one. Besides, the girls are able to glean tips off their former mentor poolside.
Allen went to the nationals simply to clock a personal best after failing to make any finals last year in Dunedin.
But by the time she got there the desire to get on the podium at least once grew stronger.
Mentally she was better prepared this time, although she was ranked No2 in the 800m, fourth in the 400m and 14th over 200m.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I can set goals and achieve them," says the youngster who attributes her foray into open-water swimming as a factor in building that steely resolve.
"It's a lot more choppy in the lake and I like the longer distances more than the sprints," she says.
In January last year she was runner-up in the annual epic Lake Taupo over 2.5km. At the same event this year, Allen was the "first female youth" at the lake over 4.2km.
Not done, she informed her Greendale coach, Noel Hardgrave-Booth, that she was off the next day to the Rotorua Legend of the Lake event where she had a top-five finish in the age 14 to 17 category.
She notes with sadness that Hardgrave-Booth is retiring as coach on April 22. He will have coached her for a year next month after she graduated to the higher ranks in April last year.
"It'll be sad when Noel goes but I'm glad the girls brought some medals back for him," says Allen, delighted with the club culture and support that sees an army of fans greet them at the airport.
The girl who used get into the competitive lanes of pools content with just keeping up with others is now keen to set the pace.
She isn't under any illusions that she's a Bobbi Gichard but that doesn't mean she doesn't harbour the desire to make it into the national age-group (NAGs) ranks.
"Next year I'd like to qualify for div one," she says, mindful it's joining the elites, but she believes taking a second off each 100m in her three disciplines is do-able.
Working on her turns in the pool, refining her strokes, upping land training and sticking to a regimented diet are all part of the big plan.
Among swimmers who inspire are Paralympics gold medallist Sophie Pascoe and Olympics golden girl Lauren Boyle.
"Sophie is my main one. I know she has only one leg but she's always out there, so I should be able to as well," she says.
She has met Charlotte Webby of Taranaki, an open-water exponent, a couple of times.
"She's really nice and talked to me a lot about just going out there and having a go, so she gave me an extra little boost."
Kate Bassick, 13, of Napier Girls' High School, was the other div two swimmer from Greendale to return with medals - golds in the 100m and 200m backstroke.
It pleases Lynda that her daughter made cards to sell to friends and family to help fundraise for the Invercargill trip.
"To me, kids get just about everything handed these days so Kate got the personal satisfaction of achieving it."
Lynda and Carl would have loved to have accompanied their daughter to the champs but decided to let her grow, so to speak, away from home although she spoke religiously with Hardgrave-Booth on tactical issues before each of her races.
