Living at full pace

It has been a busy few months for Castle Hill swimmer Zachary Attard.

Zachary Attard and former Olympian Matt Abood during the Swimming Australia NextGEN Squad youth camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on July. Pictures: Ben Southall/Swimming Australia

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Meeting an Olympian, preparing to represent the country and being tipped as a potential competitor in the Commonwealth Games – it has been a busy few months for Castle Hill swimmer Zachary Attard.

The 18-year-old was chosen for the 2017 NextGen AusComGames Squad and recently returned from a youth camp held at the Australian Institute of Sport for the 22 squad members.

After returning from the camp on July 8, Attard headed straight to the Metropolitan NSW Championships.

The Funky Trunks-sponsored athlete will then travel to the United States for the FINA World Junior Championships, which will be held from August 23-28.

Attard will compete in the 100m and 200m freestyle as well as relay events. This year will be his first time at the World Juniors, after narrowly missing out on selection in 2016.

Zachary Attard has a busy few months ahead.

“I just missed out on the team by 0.2 or something, so this year it was good to get on that junior team because it’s my last chance,” he said.

The championships will mark Attard’s first trip to the United States, and he will spend a month there before returning home to compete in the 2017 Australian University Games in September.

“It’s really busy in the next few months,” he said.

Attard’s training schedule, which he has been doing since April, includes nine swim sessions per week and two gym sessions.

The Northholm Grammar School alumnus has been juggling his swimming commitments with the first year of a double degree in IT and business at the University of Technology Sydney.

“It’s early morning and late nights,” he said.

He was also recently named one of 13 recipients for the 2017 Commonwealth Games NSW 2017 Athlete Grant Program.

Commonwealth Games NSW chief executive Peter Tate said the recipients – who each received $1000 – had “demonstrated tremendous ability in their respective sport pathways”.