The head coach of Australia's junior swimming squad has slammed the lack of sports investment in regional centres, calling for more support for country swimmers.
It comes as records fell to some of the world's fastest swimmers at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Canberra this week.
Junior Dolphins head coach Simon Cusak said he's concerned about the lack of opportunities and sports infrastructure for rural and regional children.
"I think it is a shame that most of our money comes out of resources in the regions and the majority of that money comes back to the cities," he said.
"We like to see good infrastructure in the regions because we know historically they've been a really good breeding ground for our stars.
"That's a battle that is being fought in every state whether it's WA or Queensland."
Many young rural and regional swimmers are forced to move to "the big smoke" when they outgrow their hometown swimming clubs, Cusak said.
Local aquatic leisure centres often aren't able to provide the kind of coaching or experience young swimmers need to get to the national level, and it costs a lot of money to support their training.
Australia's next top swimmers
The coach oversaw a team of Australia's strongest young swimmers at the Australian Institute of Sport as they competed against the US, Canada, Japan and other Pacific nations for gold.
With the Paris Olympics in the rearview mirror, their focus is all on the 2028 LA Games, Cusak said.
"Some of the kids here you will see at the next Games, but not all of them, they all can't reach the top," he said.
"I don't have a crystal ball, we always aspire to have a great team but we can't control what the rest of the world brings on the day as well."
More than 300 young athletes were competing over four days of competition, with spectators urged to "remember the names" of the swimmers who could be representing their countries in the next Olympics.
One of the swim squad's rising stars, 17-year-old Marcus Da Silva from Sydney, is hoping to be the next Kyle Chalmers at the Los Angeles Olympics.
He and his teammates spent many sleepless nights following the Dolphins in Paris with some of his former competitors swimming in the Games.
"I want to try and match Kyle Chalmers' relay performances, he always manages to pull something out of the bag for getting those relay teams onto the podium," Da SIlva said.
Los Angeles and beyond
All eyes were on the high school student at the Junior Pan Pacific after he won the 200m freestyle at the 2024 Australian Age championships.
Da Silva was joined by children from across Australia, with Queensland, Victoria, and WA sending swimmers to the comp.
It's not an easy road for the aspiring Olympian; he currently spends about four hours in the pool before and after school, and balances the same workload as his schoolmates.
But Da Silva is hoping his next championships is somewhere warmer.
"I have to say I would have preferred a bit of a sunnier location," he said.
"It is nice to be in Canberra though because it's a very controlled environment."
