He had only just turned 15 and had to cope with “sneaky journalists asking questions in places they knew they shouldn’t have been in.”

At the time he was the youngest Australian to represent his country at an Olympic Games.

That piece of history has since been rewritten, but he knows what challenges 15-year-old Paige Leonhardt will face as she prepares to head to her first Paralympic Games.

“I think for Paige the most important thing is to enjoy the fact you’re representing your country,” Batt, who has four Paralympics’ worth of experience to draw on, said.

“It will be en eye-opening experience for her, but at the same time it’ll be hectic and amazing all at the same time.”

He conceded the added support from family and friends at home could also turn into a burden.

“Sometimes having that support can be a bad thing because it can then be a case of having too much pressure placed on you,” he said.

“It’s just important to enjoy the experience and not get too wrapped up in it.”

Batt will take the teenager under his wing where possible in and around the village while they’re overseas.

“I’d love to catch up with her because I know it’s important to get away and meet up with other athletes,” he said.

“It just breaks everything up.”

Leonhardt departs Port Macquarie on Monday headed for Auburn, Alabama for a 10-day staging camp leading into the Olympics.

She will then head to Rio.

It is the first time she has been overseas other than when she was a newborn.

The flight to Auburn, Alabama is a little different to the two-hour flight to Adelaide which is the furthest she has travelled away from home.

“I’m excited but nervous at the same time,” she said.

Leonhardt’s first event will be the 100-metre breast stroke which will prevent her from attending the opening ceremony.

The teenager did not see it as a bad thing.

“I wanted to go to the opening ceremony, but now I look at it, it will probably be even more special to be at the closing ceremony especially if I have a couple of medals hanging around my neck,” she said.

She had set the goal of not finishing any lower than fourth in her pet event.

“If I can finish third and get on the podium that would be great, but I don’t want to go backwards,” she said.

“I want to finish fourth at worst.”