Jesse notched yet another PB in winning gold the 100m event and also took silver in the 200m where he equalled his PB. He bemoaned the fact that his favourite 50m event was not included in the program confident he could have taken out that event as well.

“I was happy with the PB in 100,” Jesse said, “and I was happy to equal my time in the 200. I’m just focusing on the All Schools coming up and then hopefully a bit of a break.”

It may not come as quickly as Jesse hoped with coach Peter Sanders set to accompany him on Swimming Australia’s trans-tasman tour that will see him train and compete with the best swimmers from Australia and New Zealand at several venues across both countries.

“Jesse did very well at the Australian titles,” Peter said. “He was nervous which was a bit surprising given his experience but his poise is fantastic. There’s a lot of expectation on him to perform and he just keeps delivering, the pressure just doesn’t seem to get to him.”

Fifteen-year-old Connor Shakespeare suffered a few hiccups in his 400m Individual Medley campaign when his swimmers broke and his cap flew off during the race.

“It didn’t quite go to plan, but I managed to finish the race which was good,” Connor said.

Connor also suggested that he may turn his attention to swimming in the surf. He’s finished second in the Head2Head, Rock to Rock and Club2Club swims so far this year and at just 15 has a big future in the open water should he choose to pursue it.

“I’ve been enjoying those swims and been happy with the results so I think I might focus on that,” Connor said.

Two of coach Sanders’ pups also performed well at the titles, with 13-year-old Leah King and 14-year-old Andrew Fisher exposed to the highest level of competition.

“Those two young ones have only been in training for about a year so the Australian titles was a learning curve for them and they’ll be far better swimmers for the experience,” Peter said.