The Australian Age Championships rep and State Age dual medallist has been a keen swimmer since her days as a junior with the Nyngan Amateur Swimming Club, where she was coached by her mum.

But moving to KWS in 2010 forced Maddie to quickly decide whether she was swimming for herself, or her parents.

“I train 18 hours a week in the water and I have to get up at 5am to catch a bus over to the indoor pool at the Wolaroi site,” Maddie said.

“You get days where you wake at 5am and don’t particularly want to get up, but you make yourself come to the pool.

“My parents aren’t here to get me up, so I worked out pretty quickly I wasn’t doing it for them.”

A high achiever in the classroom as well as the pool, Maddie has won speech day prizes for academic excellence for the past three years.

She believes the independence she has gained as a boarder, the discipline instilled by her swimming training, plus swimming’s relaxing effects, have all contributed to her academic achievements.

“My training schedule gets rid of any temptation to procrastinate,” she said.

“I know I don’t have time to muck around, so I just get in and do my work.

“I also love the way swimming takes my mind off everything else. When you’re in the water you can’t be worrying about your maths assessment the next day.”

Maddie’s commitment to training is an inspiration to younger members of the KWS Swim Club, and there is no slacking off in the holidays, either.

Armed with a program prepared by KWS’s acclaimed international swim coach Gary Hollywood, summer sees Maddie training in Nyngan’s outdoor pool, dodging recreational swimmers, jumping kids and the odd tennis and cricket ball.

In winter she makes the 320km round trip to Dubbo to train in an indoor pool, catching lifts “with anyone I can” - including the local courier.

Maddie’s commitment was rewarded earlier this year with silver medals in the 17-18 years girls 800m and 400m freestyle events at the NSW State Age Championships, and a stellar swim at the Australian Age Championships in which she placed sixth overall.

After a bronze medal winning performance at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships, Maddie is now focused on representing NSW at the flagship event of School Sport Australia, the Pacific School Games, later this year.

“Kinross has definitely given me opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she said.

“Having access to the pool is great and Gary (Hollywood) is an amazing coach.

“He’s only been at KWS about three years but the way the junior program is expanding is incredible and I think in 10 years’ time Gary will have created something very special here.

“We’re very lucky.”

If you would like to learn more about the many opportunities available at Kinross Wolaroi School, simply contact the registrar, Michelle Pryce Jones, on 02 6392 0300.