It’s a new day yet it’s the same question for Tasmania State Champion Brendon Smith but it’s not exactly ‘how many’ rather than ‘what type’ when it comes to the thousands of carbohydrates apart of his diet.

 

The Nunawading Swimming Club legend partakes in the routine of a warrior, expected from an elite athlete. The eating and the exercise is nothing but healthy and highly impressive, but the life-long swimmer possesses more than just athletic ability and strict dietary discipline.

 

Smith can eat pasta and burn it faster, but the time-management is what really impressed me when we discussed the topic of being a student-athlete. University students all have it quite similarly.

 

Depending on the day of the week, you are almost guaranteed to be preparing for work, class or both upon your morning awakening. You are most likely a Vicenarian/late Denarian; therefore repetition is the enslaver of your dependency.

 

The 19-year-old has the ability to swim with the fishes and compliments his athletic prowess with impressive will and ambition as he partakes in a part-time study load within his Bachelor of Business, Accounting and Finance.

 

Described as a ‘fair bit of work’, Smith outlined his ridiculous training regiment which involves getting in the water from 6:00am-8:00am which then leads to weights until 9.30am, and finishes his day with swimming from 3.45pm to 6:00pm.

 

With his days already packed with intense exercise, Smith was aware and fearful of perhaps struggling to integrate studying within his demanding schedule. “Yeah not (stressful) with one subject… I was worried about that but with keeping the load manageable and having good support staff, I know the elite athlete program has helped me out a heap.”

 

For Smith, there’s winning gold medals and there is passing assignments, but during covid-19 it is simply “yeah… one subject” as he tells us.

 

Smith may seem to have it all together at the moment, but he humorously acknowledges his time at the bottom of the swimming ranks within his family and beloved Nunawading Swimming Club. 

 

“When I started, I wasn’t good… at all.” Slight laughs from us interviewers pursued as he delivers his self-deprecation with subtle humour.

 

“(I was) Probably 15 years old was when I started to improvea lot and started training harder but probably up until then I was definitely in the shadow of my sisters who were always really good at a young age.”

 

 From four years old Smith has ‘been in water’, but he credits his meteoric rise to the swimming club him and his family have always and currently been associated to, Nunawading Swimming Club. 

 

“I definitely wouldn’t be the swimmer I am without being at a club that can have such a strong learn- to -swim program all the way through to Olympic level swimmers. It’s not something that is common amongst almost any club in Australia so I am very lucky to have lived so close to have had the opportunity to swim under them and break some records.”

 

It has certainly been a blazing two years for Smith as records have been broken whilst he travels internationally for competitions in which he performed admirably.

 

Perhaps the most notable accolade notched by the Melbourne born swimmer is his Uniroos qualification and performance. Smith insists, “I was super proud to be a part of that relay team.”

 

Although Smith and his teammates performed well to be selected and to place third in the competition, he had to work harder to get on the team as he originally was not selected. 

 

“I had to time-trial because I hadn ’t posted a good enough time to get into the relay. I did well enough, I posted a sub 150 swim so I go onto the relay which was awesome because we got third. Everyone on that team swam really well."

 

Brendon Smith is a humble home-grown talent full of potential and ambition to match. With his eyes set on the 2021 Olympics, it’ll be our eyes glued to the television screen as we hope to quench our patriotic thirst through one of the many young and hungry Australian athletes.