LUKE Jones is truly a natural born swimmer.

An ability his father Jeff first noticed at a young age while on a family outing at the Coffs Harbour Jetty.

“He was 5 or 6 and we were down at the Jetty and we were on the beach,” he said.

“We were watching our daughter and someone said ‘is that your son?’, and Luke was halfway out to the Jetty about 70m out from the beach, and I went out and swam alongside him.”

Eight years later, and this natural ability has come to the fore with Luke heading to this week’s NSW Combined High School Sports Association Swimming Championships in Sydney.

But what makes his swimming ability truly unique is his lack of formal training or coaching, as his father explains.

“He’s had absolutely nothing, and he just practices in the backyard pool for literally 30 minutes,” he said.

“I’ve taken him to Coffs Pool to do some tumble turns, that’s the closest he’s come to training.

“He doesn’t seem to take it seriously, but at meets his competitive nature comes out.

“He doesn’t like to lose, and if he sees someone ahead of him, he’ll try to catch them.”

Jones qualified for this week’s State School Championships having finished 3rd in the 50m and 4th in the 100m freestyle events whilst representing the Mid North Coast.

The sprint specialist will also anchor the relay team for his Toormina High School squad.

In addition to his swimming talents, the 14-year-old is a sporting all-rounder having represented NSW at rugby league and union and has also been a school cross country and athletics champion.

The swimmers father told News Of The Area of his son’s raw potential in the pool.

“I wish I could afford to put him into coaching, it would be frightening to see him after doing 4 or 5 days of training a week.”.

 

By Aiden BURGESS