WHILE James Magnussen is doing Port Macquarie proud on the Commonwealth Games stage, another Port Macquarie swimmer is blazing a trail in his footsteps.
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Tom Berryman's reputation for hard work in the water has him set for big things. Berryman returned from the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships with a silver in the 100 metre backstroke and a bronze in the 200m.
The modest 14-year-old doesn't make a big deal of his success in the water, but it is well deserved.
Berryman's dedication to the sport is remarkable.
He found time for plenty of training during a recent trip to the snow in the state's south.
"It turned into a swimming road trip," Berryman said.
He trained at Taree, the Australian Institute of Sport headquarters in Canberra, Jindabyne, Thredbo and Caringbah in Sydney.
"He's going to have withdrawal symptoms if he can't go near a pool," Berryman's coach Michael Mullens said.
"He's a maniac when it comes to swimming. I have never seen anything like it."
Mullens said his other swimmers would do well in looking up to Berryman.
"He's a born leader," Mullens said.
"If they emulate him, we'll have more champions."
Berryman wasn't the only Port Macquarie swimmer to do well in Melbourne.
Mekayla Everingham, Adam Grant and Paige Leonhardt all had good results.
Everingham got a gold in the 200m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke.
She also picked up silver in the 4x50m freestyle relay and the 200m individual medley.
Leonhardt came home with gold in the 50m multiclass breaststroke and bronze in the 200m mixed medley relay.
Grant had top 10 finishes and broke plenty of personal records.
“It was PBs all round for him,” Mullens said. “It was good for him to get there.”
Meanwhile, representatives of The Swimming Academy are also doing well in the water.
Claudia Todd returned from an Armidale meet with plenty of gold around her neck.
Todd competed in 10 events at the Alligators swimming carnival and won nine of them.
She broke six personal best records.
The academy’s youngest member, Larnie Vagg, came back with five PBs from five races.
Her older sister Taryn Vagg had another perfect record, with seven from seven events. The pair’s cousin Douglas Toomey had six from six.
Academy coach Derrick Todd is astounded with his troops’ success. He said it was a reflection of the hard work his team was putting in.
“They’re a good group coming through,” Todd said.
Magnussen spent plenty of time at the academy as a youngster, and Todd said his current bunch looked up to the Missile.
“He had a decade with us,” Todd said.
