Swimming: Jacob and Tahlia Smith bound for Brisbane to further swimming careers

The siblings, who are the children of club president Aaron Smith, are now bound for Brisbane to begin the next chapter of their burgeoning careers.

Both have earned scholarships to board at St Peter's Lutheran College in Brisbane, which is home to the renowned St Peter's Western swim school.

There, they will train under Jacob Hansford, who represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and head coach Dean Boxall, who has mentored a number of Olympians including gold medalist Ariarne Titmus.

Though both Smith children have dreams of swimming at the highest level, saying goodbye will not be easy, Aaron said.

"[Jacob's] a bit nervous, but he's also excited," he said.

"He knows this is the next step for him ... Tahlia's pretty nervous as well. She's had to say goodbye to the friends she's made at Calrossy and her friends here in Gunnedah, but she knows it's a move in the right direction."

Both children have stood out in the pool over the last 12 months.

Tahlia, 14, travelled to Adelaide in April to compete at the national championships, while Jacob, 12, has made a habit of breaking local pool and club records, and won two silvers and a gold at the school nationals in August.

In the eyes of Gunnedah club coach, John Hickey, both kids have the raw ingredients and work ethics to someday reach the Olympics.

"[Jacob] and I talked very early on about his potential to go to the Olympics if he trained the way he currently does," Hickey said.

"Tahlia's got everything you need to be an outstanding sprinter ... if they put her up there into a sprint program, she'll excel."

Though he was described by his father as "quite shy", it was actually Jacob's idea to make the move to Brisbane.

The family has been based in Gunnedah since 2011, where they moved when Aaron began his own business. And while Jacob and Tahlia will board at St Peter's over the next couple of years, Aaron, his wife Debby, and their two youngest children will most likely relocate to Brisbane at some point in the future.

"We've got two boys underneath [Jacob and Tahlia], so they'll probably get a bit more attention now for the next couple of years," Aaron said.

"But I think the family will end up in Brisbane eventually after a couple of years."

While Tahlia is currently in Britain with Debby (who hails from England) visiting family, Jacob represented Gunnedah one last time over the weekend at the Kootingal carnival.

As usual, he excelled and broke at least a couple of club records, and will hope to carry that hot form when he makes his Queensland State Championships debut this weekend.

Preparing to farewell two of his best students has proven a poignant moment for Hickey, who has forged a strong mentor-mentee relationship with Jacob over the last two years.

"I introduced Tahlia to Nic [Monet, Tamworth City swimming coach], and so he's been coaching Tahlia anyway through all the school hours of the year," he said.

"I've already had to say goodbye to her in some sense, but Jacob will be hard, because I see him twice a day, every day, bar Saturday and Sunday.

"It'll be quite emotional for me."

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