Lily Barlow and Kiera Hetherington are part of the next generation of Australian swimmers who have Olympic dreams.
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The Port Macquarie Swimming Club squad members couldn't help but be inspired by Ariarne Titmus and her heroic efforts at Tokyo last week.
They swam in their first national title event in April this year with 14-year-old Lily achieving personal best results in the same events the Australian 20-year-old claimed gold in.
"It keeps motivating me and that's where I want to end up one day - either going to the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games," she said.
Lily watched Titmus win the 400-metre and 200-metre freestyle races and learned a few important tricks of the trade along the way.
"They're the races I want to go far and succeed in and I learned not to go flat out, but not to save too much in the tank," she said.
"It's going to keep inspiring me and keep pushing me to get better and do the best I can."
Fifteen-year-old Kiera admitted she was struggling for motivation to return to the pool after a month off at the end of the last squad season in June.
But watching the Olympics had seen the fire return.
"Watching them swim made me find my love of it again, so it really pushed me to say 'C'mon go and do something' instead of sitting at home doing nothing," she said.
The teenager had listened to the advice Australia's newest golden girl provided during the television coverage with Channel Seven.
"It doesn't just take the year when the Olympics are on; (Ariarne) said it took five years to get to where she was at. Now when I lose some motivation I need to go 'right, this is where it could head'," she said.
"She showed you can do it when you're young, but it's the practice that will take you there."
Lily and Kiera had their first squad session on Monday after a month off and while the early morning starts were a challenge, they know that's where Olympic dreams can be created.
"I was able to push myself while watching (the Olympians) push themselves and seeing where the hard effort needs to be put in," Lily said.
"One day I want to be able to achieve that."
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