Jo-Mari Meyer Greendale club swimmer Julian Layton has smashed a Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay record and is unrivalled in the region in his age group at the Bay of Plenty Winter Championships.
The Napier Boys' High School pupil clocked 4min 34.08sec in the 400m individual medley last month.
The fifth-former was among six swimmers to perform well at the Bay Wave pool, Mt Maunganui, with Greendale scholarship-recipient Jonathan Burfield-Mills and Woodford House pupil Jo-Mari Meyer also breaking HBPB records.
"Julian swam in the Transtasman Tri-Series, in Tauranga, Taupo and Masterton, which involves two teams from Australia and one from New Zealand," coach Noel Hardgrave-Booth told SportToday on the youngster's chances of knocking on the door for national selection in the near future.
"The 400m IM is his No1 event but he's also a 200m breaststroke swimmer," Hardgrave-Booth said.
All his swimmers clocked personal bests to qualify for the final of the Central Swimming New Zealand Grand Prix Finale, in Taupo, this weekend.
He said Taradale Intermediate Emily Maunder would not swim because of a musical production.
The BOP meeting lured 485 competitors from the Waikato, Taranaki, BOP and HBPB areas, which comprise the Central Swimming New Zealand region.
Layton was the top 16-year-old boy in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly events.
Burfield-Mills broke the HBPB 100 butterfly record. He also won the 50m butterfly and the 100m IM events. He was runner-up in the 50m and 100m backstroke, as well as the 50m and 100m freestyle events, and claimed bronze in 200m backstroke and freestyle.
Meyer, 14, clocked 1min 09.24sec to smash the HBPB 100 medley record. She was runner-up in the 100m medley, 50m and 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle, with a third in the 100 freestyle.
"She's actually a national age-group champion with a gold in 200m backstroke and a silver in the 100m backstroke," said Hardgrave-Booth.
He said the Taupo meet was an Open one and would give his team a taste of top-level competition.
"Julian should do really well in the Open grades with the bigger boys."
Prue Boult was the top 13-year-old girl in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
Claudia Layton was runner-up in the 100m and third in the 200m breaststroke races in the 12-year girls' section.
Maunder, 12, was first in the 100m breaststroke but settled for runner-up in the 50m and 200m breaststroke and third in the 200 medley in her age group.