Westminster student following his hometown hero to Olympic glory

At the crack of dawn, 13-year-old Tyrell Nemeth-Ford from Westminster School is already out of bed training in the pool, perfecting his strokes and building his strength in the gym. Just like Australian Olympic gold medalist Kyle Chalmers, the Year 7 student made the 650km move from his home town of Port Lincoln to join the same swimming club in Adelaide driven by the goal of representing Australia. Tyrell’s journey mirrors the steps of his biggest inspiration in more ways than one.

Growing up in a remote regional city

Both swimmers began at Port Lincoln’s West Coast Swimming Club where they were able to leverage the support of a close knit community. However being a 7 hour drive away from Adelaide, the same time it would take from Melbourne, made access to competitions and high-performance coaching challenging, and often meant missing out on opportunities available to those in capital cities.

Like what Kyle Chalmers did at the same age, Tyrell made the big move to Adelaide at the end of last year to give himself the best chance of making it to the very top. He was fortunate enough to be able to attend a great school like Westminster and join the Marion Swimming Club.

Committed to his goals

Since moving to Adelaide, Tyrell has been able to access high-performance coaching, better facilities and the opportunity to train with other elite swimmers. He’s now able to train nine times a week instead of only five times back in Port Lincoln.

To ensure he’s on the path to success, Tyrell trains before and after school every day during the week as well as weekends. As well as his rigorous physical training routine, he’s also attending specialised stroke clinics, nutrition seminars and motivational activities at the club, making the most of every opportunity to reach his goals.

All his hard work and dedication is paying off. He’s broken four state records for his age group - his proudest achievements so far, and won a stack of medals and awards at state and national championships. Last year he was named as one of 10 students from South Australia in the annual Primary School Sports Awards.

Being recognised as an Edstart Achievement Award winner

Tyrell was selected as a winner of our 2024 Edstart Achievement Awards in the Sport & Physical Wellbeing category as recognition of his dedication and successes that he’s achieved. He’s on track to join our next generation of Olympians and we are excited to support him by helping fund the cost of travelling to competitions and new equipment for his training.

Going for gold

Looking to the future, Tyrell has his sights set on medals at his next competition in New Zealand and a few more state records. Beyond that his mission is clear - he’s dedicated to making sure that Kyle Chlamers isn’t the last swimmer from Port Lincoln to stand on top of the Olympic podium.

To learn more about the Edstart Achievement Award Program, visit edstart.com.au/award.

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