Brisbane schoolboy Samuel Short breaks longstanding Australian swimming record

A 17-year-old Brisbane schoolboy has broken an Australian swimming record set by triple Olympian Kieren Perkins back in 1991.

Teenage prodigy Samuel Short has broken the Australian Boy’s 17-years 800m Freestyle record, set by Olympic icon Kieren Perkins in 1991.

Competing at the Australian Age Swimming Championships at the Gold Coast Swimming & Aquatic Centre on Friday, Short won gold with a time of 7:52.18.

The 17-year-old bettered Perkin’s longstanding record by 0.75 seconds.

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The Brisbane schoolboy also secured gold in the 200m freestyle event on Thursday.

“It feels pretty amazing – I’ve looked up to him (Perkins) my whole life,” Short said after the race.

“He’s ‘the man’ of the sport for distance swimming in Australia and he was the first for a lot of things — it’s an honour really.

“Leading into (Olympic) trials, I’ll have a lot of competition in the 800m. At the back end of the 400m, I need to kind of hang tough really and need to work on coming back harder. I went out hard but, kind of fell off towards the back-end, but you live, and you learn.”

Olympic Swimming prospect Samuel Short.

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St Peters Western teammate Joshua Staples placed second in the 800m event with a time of 8:07.84, while George Williamson from Rackley received bronze.

Coach Damien Jones believes Short is “a genuine chance” of swimming the Olympic Games qualifying time of 14:54 minutes for the 1500m event at June’s trials.

“He has to be top two and under the qualifying standard,’’ Jones told The Courier-Mail last week.

“His work ethic and ability to push himself under a lot of stress are his greatest attributes.’’