Kayla Hardy and Ricky Betar are two names Canberrans, and Australians, should get familiar with in the pool.
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One of the Cruiz Swim Club athletes broke a world record, and the other swam two world qualifying times at the Australian Short Course Championships this weekend.
Hardy swam an 11.41 second personal best to touch the wall first in the 400m individual medley under coach Shannon Rollason, with a time of 4:32.84.
The 19-year-old then finished second in the 200m IM event in Sydney, and has the second fastest qualifying time heading into the 100m IM final on Saturday night.
The Australian team will be announced on Tuesday for the World Swimming Championships (25m) in December, with Hardy a strong contender.
Cruiz's club head coach Laura Brindley said as she swam two qualifying times she had a good chance at national selection.
"Kayla only finished year 12 last year, so this is the first time she's been able to really be a full-time athlete, and this is the first time we've really seen how she can perform after a nine month training block," she said.
"It would be her first open Australian team, and she's in with a pretty big shot.
"Seeing someone in an orange Cruiz cap win at a nationals and do it in under qualifying time is pretty big, and then seeing that as a kid in Canberra that that is possible, is even bigger."
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Betar used the meet to break a world record in the S14 100m backstroke under new coach Martin Roberts. The 18-year-old Cruiz swimmer's time of 58.28 shed 0.31 seconds off the 2015 WR time.
"To get a world record is sensational," Brindley said.
"He is only new to the club but he's our first multiclass national winner, which I always say, 'You can't be what you can't see' to the kids, so it's great for our para athletes."
Fellow Canberran, Ginninderra Swim Club's Jacinta Essam touched third in the 400m IM to claim bronze behind Hardy to also sneak in under world qualifier time.
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
