The 12-year-old is working hard towards his dream of representing Australia at the Olympic Games but at the same time is keeping his options open on how he will achieve the goal.

Sam made his mark at the NSW Age Championships in Sydney earlier this year when he earned a top-10 ranking in the 100-metre breaststroke.

“Breaststroke is by far my best stroke, but that may change in years to come,” he said.

“I work on all my strokes because I need to be versatile for the individual medley.”

Sam’s talent shone through at the Kooringal High School swimming carnival a month ago when he broke four records which had stood for 20 years and upstaged rivals six years his senior in the open age 200m freestyle and 200m medley.

He has maintained his hot form in the past week, excelling at the Wagga CHS and NSW Country Championships.

Sam bettered three records – one was set way back in 1978 – at the Wagga titles and won all 13 years age races in addition to finishing runner-up in the open 100-metre breaststroke.

After qualifying for 12 events at the country championships, Sam claimed a bronze medal in the 50m breastroke and was a nine-time finalist.

The Wagga Smim Club member has a gruelling schedule with at least seven training sessions a week under the coaching of Barb Blondinau and swimming competitively all-year round, taking part in the south-west carnivals in the summer and travelling to Canberra in the winter.