'Tsunami' hits the mark
Fiona Brady
14May08
MLC Marlins swimmer Te Haumi Maxwell is a legend at just 13. Picture: DAMIAN SHAW ZXI33014
WATCH out world, there's a tsunami coming.
Thirteen-year-old Te Haumi Maxwell, nicknamed "Tsunami", continued to rule the pool at last month's Australian Age Championships in Brisbane.
The MLC Marlins swimmer won two individual gold medals in the 100m freestyle and the 50m freestyle, and two relay gold medals.
And now he has been nominated for the Inner-West Weekly 2008 Junior Sports Star of the year award.
He is in the running to win a medal and $1000.
Te Haumi broke the 50m freestyle national record twice, shaving 0.03 of a second off his own record with an impressive time of 24.37sec.
It's the fourth time he has achieved an all-time Australian record in this event.
He also broke the 100m freestyle record (53.63), becoming the first swimmer ever in his age-group to go under 54 seconds.
"Yes it was a very good meet for me," Te Haumi said.
"I achieved all of my goals.
"To get gold was very good, to break the records was good but beating my personal best was fantastic."
The Newington College student was born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia in 1998 and became an Australian citizen at the beginning of this year.
He didn't start swimming until he was nine years old.
Since he began his incredible winning streak, he's sparked constant comparisons to Ian Thorpe, and was one of the youngest competitors to try out for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
"It was a good experience being up against the bigger boys," he said.
His next focus is the Metropolitan Short Course Championships in June.
"All the meets are stepping stones for what I want to achieve," said the aspiring future Olympian.
BE IN THE RUNNING
- TWO AWARDS: Our Junior Sports Star of the year will receive a medal and $1000, with all other nominees considered for our new Young Achiever Award (medal and $500)
- ELIGIBILITY: Sportspeople aged between 10 and 16 at the time of nomination who live in the local area
- OUR SPONSOR: Rhodes Shopping Centre
- TO ENTER: Click on the Junior Sports Star button on the home page
