Andre Steele: Swimming Gunnedah member set to contest his second state championships

But it was not until he was in year seven that the 16-year-old's swimming potential was unlocked.

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That's when he became a member of Swimming Gunnedah - following in the footsteps of his father, Luke, Gunnedah's fastest-ever backstroker and a former nationals-level competitor.

"Dad didn't want to force me into swimming like he was," Andre said. "But I seemed to have a little talent, and they were like, 'We'll chuck him in the squad.'"

Andre's mother, Lisa, started dating Luke when they were at high school. She went to St Mary's College and he Gunnedah High, but they worked together at Woolworths.

It has been three years since their firstborn took up competitive swimming, and this month he will contest the 50 freestyle and 100m butterfly at his second state championships at Homebush in Sydney .

Once there he will look to improve on the personal best he set in his pet event, the 50m freestyle, at last year's championships - a time in the low 25 seconds. He said he missed the final by "a ridiculous" margin.

He described the performance as "mind-boggling", because he went from "27 seconds straight to 25".

"I never felt like I'd be this fast," said the year 10 St Mary's student. "I always thought I'd just be that little country kid that swam. But I've progressed heaps better than I actually thought I would have."

"As far as it's gonna take me," he said of his pool ambition.

Out of the water, Andre is into cars and loves hanging out with his friends. "I get along with everyone," he said, "but I've got my five closest boys."

At last month's big carnival at Gunnedah, Andre set "four of five records", his mother said, adding that he was close to breaking the club's 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly records.

She said her son trained hard and "deserves all the accolades he gets".

"He's a great leader for the club," she continued. "All the younger kids look up to him and think he's the bee's knees."