Hugo Wrathall from Jasi Swim Team and Vikings Swim Club’s Chris Elson will line up alongside the best swimmers in the world at the short-course championships – held in a 25m pool, rather than the Olympic standard 50m.
Wrathall, 19, will swim the 100m freestyle and Elson, 25, will compete in the 50m and 100m butterfly.
“Anything I get will be a bonus, from having good experience and being exposed to the top level for the first time,” he said.
Elson’s coach Todd Mason is full of praise for his protégé, who won six medals at the Oceania championships this year.
“He’s really worked hard to get there, he’s focused, it was always a goal,” he said.
Elson is the first able-bodied swimmer from Vikings to compete at senior level on the world stage, following on from Gabriella Smith’s Paralympic debut in Paris this year.
Mason, who established the club in 2014 and has been head coach ever since, said it was a special milestone, with Smith and Elson serving as inspiration for young swimmers at the club.
“It’s really important for kids to see that kids from Christchurch can do it because it is a big step, and now we’ve got two who have done it.
“For the younger kids coming through, it’s pretty amazing that they can train beside these people, with these people and have belief that they can take the step to the next level.”
Wrathall is also a talented surf lifesaver, representing Waimairi, and has been selected for national teams.
He has won numerous age-group national surf lifesaving titles including the rescue medley manikin, the manikin tow, 50m with fins and the manikin carry with fins.
His coach at Jasi, Peter Burgon, believes Wrathall could go far in whatever discipline he chooses.
“How long’s a piece of string? With any athlete, it’s what they want to do, they can push themselves to go as far as they want to go.
“Obviously you have to compete against the rest of the world at the very top level, but it comes down to hard work, and that’s not something he is scared of.
“He works damn hard, and he’s got the desire and the ambition to keep going, so the world’s his oyster.”
The world short-course championships start on Tuesday night (NZT) and finish on Sunday.
