Every Record From Year 7 to Opens BROKEN
Sam Manwaring. It is the name of a fine young man from Jugiong who has etched his name in to the record books. Etched may be the wrong word. Engraved? Lasered? Sam entered Murrumburrah High School (MHS) after undertaking primary school at Jugiong Public. He first showed his ability in the swimming pool at a young age, but it was after winning an age trophy that father Max and mother Nicole thought it would be best for Sam to take part in some stroke correction. Sam travelled the long and winding road from Jugiong to Coota with his parents and time spent with coach Adam Gammon quickly paid off.
By the time Sam reached MHS he was an accomplished swimmer and Homebush (where the Sydney Olympics was held in year 2000) began to become a second home.
Sam started the year seven carnival and broke all records before him.
What an achievement! He wasn’t finished…… and wait for the amazing part… He went on to train year round for the next five years, following the black line at the bottom of the pool. It is the black line that swimmers can dread at times, watching it over and over again. But not Sam.
Sam went on to break every record in Year Eight, Year Nine, Year 10 and Year 11. His swimming regime was constant and demanding but he swam when he wanted to and he enjoyed it.
Sam swims up to 50 kilometres or more in a week. A distance many of us would struggle to walk. He averages around eight kilometres a day and then heads to school. This is his final year at Murrumburrah High, and he decided not to swim through the winter months of 2025. This decision left him a little worried about whether or not he would break the eight records this year in Year 12. He comes from a place of knowing he had put in the work all those previous years and he should have feared not. He broke all eight records in the Open’s boys category in 2026, meaning he holds every record at Murrumburrah High School from Year Seven to Year 12.
48 of them. 48 records that male swimmers will be using to spur them on in the future. It’s quite possible we may not see another swimmer of Sam’s ability this century. Even if a swimmer could go fast enough to claim maybe one, two or several records, there is a huge chance that Sam Manwaring’s name could remain in the list of record holders well into the 2100s. Who knows?
Sam’s calm and quiet demeanour show a young man comfortable in his skin. He has wanted to swim, and it comes through in the way he communicates his feelings. He is also interested in school subjects where he gets to make things such as metal work, carpentry and alike. At the end of his schooling, he will be looking for an apprenticeship and no doubt employers will be lining up to offer a job to Sam. He would be an exceptional gain for any business.
The Times caught up with Sam’s father Max and coach Adam to discuss Sam’s swimming.
Max said, “He’s had a cracker day at the carnival. Every age record from 12 Boys through to Open Boys.”
He joked, “I know one thing, he definitely didn’t get it from me. He was about eight when he first won an age medal (age champion) here at Jugiong, and he was just really interested.
“We took him to Cootamundra, to Adam Gammon and said, ‘Can you give him a bit of stroke correction and let’s just see how he goes and from there on, he was just dedicated and focussed, like I haven’t seen with kids.
“The last sort of seven or eight months, he had taken a bit of a break. He didn’t swim through the winter, but up until there, it was 12 months a year. We were solid. We put plenty of trips into Homebush and places.
“I think the spell did him a lot of good, and I think he reinvigorated himself and I think you will see more of him in the future. Obviously, that’s a decision he’s going to make, but yes, I think he probably will.
“It’s definitely a proud moment.”
Adam, whose early swimming career saw him versing the likes of Ian Thorpe and other famous swimmers before retiring in the earlier 2000s, says Sam has something really special.
“[At first] nothing really stood out about him, but as he evolved, he has this discipline and drive, that’s one thing that sets him out from a lot of other swimmers,” said Adam.
For nearly a decade, Adam has been working with Sam and has seen him excel in his swimming career. Although discussions about what this might entail after hasn’t occurred, Adam says Sam has a future in it should he wish.
“You have to have a real fighting spirit to be a competitive swimmer, and you’ve got to really want it,” he said.
Swimming, Adam said, is a lonely sport, and can be harder to develop drive and discipline for.
“You’ve got teammates and mates around you, but you’ve got to do all the work yourself. You don’t have anyone else to lean back on like in a team sport,” said Adam.
“It’s all about you so you really have to want to do it, and you have to do the hard work.
Sam currently trains at the Coota pool, with some days starting in the dark and ending in it too.
Thankfully, he has an indoor option to switch to once the days turn chilly.
Overall, Adam says he, and the Club, are incredibly proud of Sam’s recent achievement, and his dedication to the sport.
“His years of dedication and showing up [to the pool] five, six times a week have paid off,” he said.
“He had it in his head that he was going to break [all the swimming records] three years ago, and we had a conversation.
“It just shows that once he sets his mind to it, [he can do it].”
We had the pleasure of speaking to Sam at MHS on Tuesday.
He said, “I did swimming lessons when I was six and then started doing swimming club at Jugiong two nights a week, and then I started doing a few more competitions and moved over to Cootamundra to swim with Adam Gammon.
“Dad wanted me to do a little bit of stroke correction at that time, just to polish it off. I’m now 16, turning 17 this year and I’m in Year 12.”
Sam had a break from winter swimming in 2025.
“I wasn’t too sure about it at the start if I’d come back from it, but I’ve only been swimming back since the new year and I’m still swimming as quick as I left, so it must have done something for me,” he said.
“It even let my mind reset and get off it a bit because it was going all the time.”
Sam was humble when discussing his record breaking feats but explained that some of the margins were not that big and others were quite vast.
“Some of them were pretty big, 10 and 15 seconds. Some were just under. I came to school and I didn’t even know there were records and broke them and then I started setting goals to break them the next year,” he said.
Sam was racing against every swimmer who’d ever hit the pool at MHS over the last decades.
His amazing achievement hasn’t hit home yet.
“It is pretty cool just to break one, but I don’t know, I don’t think it’s sunk in at all,” he said.
“It’s the hundreds of each stroke. And then there’s actually records for the 200 free and the 200 IM.
“When I first came here, they didn’t swim it at the carnivals. This year was the only year that they started swimming them at the carnivals.”
The records have come in each of the four strokes and at 50 and 100 metre distance. 48 in total.
Outside of the pool Sam loves the practical side of things.
“I really love the construction, metal work. The hands-on stuff. I’m looking for an apprenticeship in carpentry or building or welding.
Over the years he has had to come up against swimmers from other towns and some big cities that have pools on campus or close by year-round.
“It’s a different feeling every time you dive in. Knowing that a lot of those people you verse at Homebush, they go to those schools there to swim. For me it’s a bit different, I’m here at school and then travel to swim.”
Sam has been helping with the kilometres in the car for some time now.
“I’ve got my L’s and been practicing. I nearly had all my hours up six months through. But I’m not that far off my P’s now, a few more months,” he said.
Sam’s sister Amy is in Year Nine. She also swims, although she has been excelling on the rodeo circuit with her focus now on horses.
Sam couldn’t thank his parents enough for their help over the years as well as taking him to trainings and events. Adam Gammon has also become a mate and a Coach after assisting in Sam’s rise.
“Obviously he’s a coach, but like a friend to me really, like, a mentor and everything. He’s helped me a lot,” said Sam.
What’s next for Sam?
“I’ll go to regionals at Young and then Riverina at Leeton and then stay at Homebush,” he said.
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