Henderson now has the second-oldest Otago record in his sights and has until his next birthday in March to add it to his growing list of achievements.
Last Saturday, Henderson broke Jeff Conroy's 100m Otago breaststroke record for 10-11 years when he won a gold medal at the Canterbury championships.
Conroy's record of 1min 26.90sec, set on September 5, 1970, was the oldest on the Otago swim centre's books, and Henderson reduced it to 1min 26.85sec.
Conroy also holds the second-oldest (now the oldest) Otago record, also in the boys 10-11 age group, in the 200m breaststroke of 3min 05.20sec.
This weekend, Henderson is intent on taking a crack at Conroy's remaining record, set on February 6, 1971.
Henderson said yesterday he was pleased with his haul of two golds, two Otago records and one silver medal from the Canterbury championships and was looking forward to racing in Dunedin.
He was amazed he had broken such a long-standing record because he felt his previous personal bests were some distance from Conroy's marks.
Breaking a 38-year-old record was "pretty cool" and Henderson had not thought he was capable of it.
He had thought about the young Jeff Conroy and wondered whether he swam with goggles or did intensive training programmes in the 1970s.
"I think he would be happy someone broke the record but sad someone broke his record. But he would probably be amazed too, because 38 years is such a long time," Henderson said.
Conroy (49) is amazed there were still records of his standing. He now lives on the Sunshine Coast in Australia where he works as a lawyer.
Conroy used to train under the late Duncan Laing in a strong Otago squad of successful swimmers including Stefan Laing, Brett Naylor and Martin Craig.
He still swims three to four times a week but gave up competitive swimming aged about 16 to pursue water polo, in which he represented New Zealand to World Games level and continued playing until he was 35.
He recalled setting the 100m breaststroke record, which Henderson now holds, during an exchange between Otago and New South Wales swimmers in Sydney in 1970.
"It was set at the New South Wales state titles, where I won the gold medal . . . I remember really clearly getting on the starting blocks and someone yelling "Go the Kiwi" and that's when I did the 1.26.9."
Conroy said Laing's 1970s squad was an exceptional one and he still kept in touch with his friends.
They did use goggles and they had a sophisticated programme, he said.
The Otago championships begin tonight at Moana Pool with the 1500m and 800m events. They continue tomorrow and over the weekend.
About 250 competitors have entered from around Otago and some were also travelling from Oamaru, which is part of the Eastern Districts centre.
