PORT Macquarie swimming coach Michael Mullens is a good judge of what makes a good swimmer.
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Over the years he’s coached stars such as Olympian James Magnussen and in recent years a new breed are coming through the ranks in the Hastings.
And perhaps yet another star was born at Sydney Olympic Park last week in Mathilda King.
The St Columba Anglican School student claimed gold in the 50-metre breaststroke final at the NSW Combined Independent Schools Swimming Championships.
King first jumped into the pool little more than 12 months ago and Mullens was of the opinion she had the ability to be good – very good.
His comments proved true as the 13-year-old booked her spot at the All-Schools final next month.
“Last year I won silver in the same event and the year before that I won bronze so it’s like it’s a step up for me – a progression,” King said.
“It was also my birthday on the day so I had my mind to it and I had a positive attitude for the whole time I was down there.”
Rival Alex Hayes had previously proven too good for King in the breaststroke, but it was a case of third time lucky this year.
“There was this one girl who had always beaten me and my goal was to beat her this year and she finished second,” the teenager said.
It was the perfect present for King who celebrated her 13th birthday on the day of the final.
“I wanted the gold medal,” she said.
“I wanted to stand on the top of the podium and I wanted to get under the 36 second mark.
“I did 35.43 and second was 35.57 so it was really close. It came down to a touch on the wall.”
King said she was motivated to continue to improve every year and it was a slight modification to her stroke that paid dividends.
“I did work on my dive in training before that and I felt like my streamline where I had a nice pull worked well and I came up quick,” she said.
“There are nationals coming up next week and because it’s only my first year I’m looking for a PB.
“I’d like to medal in that over the next couple of years.”
King will look to improve on her second-place she achieved at All-Schools level last year when she heads there again at the end of the next school term.
“Without the coaching I’ve had … they’ve really helped over the last year,” she said.