Bailey has only been swimming professionally for three years but is on the right path to achieve his dream of making it to the Olympics after smashing nine records at the Camden Haven High School Swimming Carnival.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bailey's mum Caroline Shoesmith was watching from the pool side on the day of the carnival and said she was extremely proud of her son for his hard work and dedication to the sport.
Bailey broke a 40-year-old record for the 13-year-old 100 metre freestyle, with a time of 1.05.59. The previous record had been held by Anthony Watts with a time of 1.15.08. Anthony tragically passed away in December 2018.
Bailey also broke the record for the 200m freestyle when he completed the distance in a time of 2.25.99. The old record was 2.49.25 from 1985.
Other records for Bailey include the 100m backstroke, 33 metre backstroke, 33m freestyle, 33m breaststroke, 66m butterfly, 100m breaststroke and 33m individual medley.
Bailey was the age champion at the Swimming North Coast Long Course Championships in 2018.
Bailey will compete at the 2019 NSW Country Championships over the weekend of February 22-24.
Competitors have to be 14-years-old before they can take part in national events and it's Bailey's aim to achieve fast times to make the team.
Caroline transports Bailey to Wauchope and Port Macquarie pools for training.
Caroline said she hopes one day there will be a 50 metre pool at Laurieton to allow people to train for professional events.
She said it's something which people have been pushing for a long time.
"It's not good enough having a 33 metre length pool as kids who train there tend to hit a wall as soon as they race competitively in 50 metre events," she said.
Kiera Hetherington also performed strongly at the Camden Haven High School Swimming Carnival and broke three records on the day.
In the 13-year-old 200m freestyle Kiera achieved a time of 2.32.72 which broke the old record from 2000 at 2.55.78.
Kiera also broke the record for the 100m freestyle and the 33m individual medley.
It's Kiera's first year at Camden Haven High School after she graduated from Lake Cathie Public School in 2018.
Her parents are both history teachers at the high school, and her dad Boyd said Kiera has had a fantastic start to 2019.
Boyd said Kiera can't get enough of swimming and gets up at 4.30am to train.
It's Kiera's dream to one day swim at the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics.