James Ryan has joined the Tamworth City contingent preparing for the nationals in April after swimming a qualifying time at the club's annual carnival on Sunday.
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It was one of the highlights of what was a successful day for the club in and out of the water.
After having to hold their carnival at Scully Park last year due to the closure of the city pool, the Sharks lapped up the opportunity to compete in their home pool.
"Being back in our own pool, we realised how much we missed it," coach Nicholas Monet said.
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Monet was happy with how the 42-strong contingent performed.
"There were some great swims; Some good pb's, national times and country times," he said.
Ryan achieved his nationals time in the 200m breaststroke with a four second pb.
More than 200 swimmers took to the water, one of the most pleasing parts of which for club president Grant Simm was the number of young swimmers competing.
"We had 45 swimmers under eight-year old," he said, adding that seeing their smiling faces as they got out of the water was one of the highlights for him.
Due to COVID restrictions they were unable to run any relays but it was still a pretty full day.
Monet said carnivals are a really good way to bring the club together.
"It's [carnivals] great for the swimmers to get to know each other. Some of them don't train together," he said.
To that end one of the things he really liked about Sunday was the way they supported each other.
For some of the swimmers it was their first carnival.
He said it's also good for the young swimmers to see how the older swimmers go about their preparations and racing.
Another special feature of Sunday was the swimmers receiving their new pink club shirts.
They were supposed to have them before the start of the season but they weren't ready so they handed them out before the carnival.
"It was a nice surprise for them," Monet said.
"The kids loved it."
As the season starts to heat up, this weekend a number of swimmers will be heading to Taree for the Country Regionals.
Two weeks after that it's the New England and North West area championships in Armidale.
