But that’s what Port Macquarie swimmer Sam Harris did recently at the national Pacific School Games in Adelaide.

He said the silver medals he won in the 1500 and 800-metre events along with the bronze in the 200-metre freestyle were the first he had won on a national scale.

“Mum was shocked and speechless when she found out,” he said.

“She didn’t go with me because I went with dad so I didn’t get the chance to talk to her on the phone until that night but when I did she was very excited. When I finished I heard dad cheering in the stands so that was a very exciting time.”

A full program meant the teenager doesn’t have too much spare time when you take out school and work, but he also had to find time to train.

“I do eight or nine sessions a week which means it’s very crowded at times,” he said.

“We do cross-fit every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, I train every weekday and work on other strokes just for fun. It’s tough especially when you have exams like I did. When they were on I was having late nights which was also pretty difficult.”

To progress to the national stage Harris first needed to navigate his way through Combined High Schools (CHS) before progressing to an All-Schools level.

“CHS was probably the starting point when I realised this might be my year because I got a lot of medals there and a few medals at all-schools as well so PSG topped it all off,” he said.

“I’m not too sure what the secret is, but I wasn’t feeling good leading up to it but was able to swim well on the day.”

He said being in the pool provided an outlet for him to forget about most things and concentrate on being as good as he could be.

“I find when I go swimming if I’m in a bad mood it gets me out of it so I train better because I end up feeling better afterwards.”

School sports coordinator Michael Sanderson was not surprised at how Harris performed because it was the culmination of hard work.

“He never misses a class and when he’s in the water everyone else is asleep ... he’s an ornament to the school. He never complains, he just gets in and does it,” he said.

“Gradually he’s getting better and better as he gets older; he performs really well at a high level. Some other swimmers can’t keep performing at that level, but he’s a real racer.”