But that is where you will find Nelson Bay Swim Club members as they prepare for this weekend's country championships to be held at Homebush.

"Unfortunately we have a few of our members carrying injuries so we will only be taking about 10 swimmers this year," coach Tom Davis said.

"Nevertheless we hope to achieve some good results."

Two of the stand-outs are expected to be whizz- kids Riley Mather, aged 11, and 13-year-old Zayne Morphew-Watson.

The pair will use the championships as a warm-up for the Pan Pacific school games to be staged in Adelaide later in the year.

"To qualify for Adelaide the boys had to attend no less than six school carnivals and be ranked in the top three in NSW," Davis said.

"Riley will be competing in his pet event, the 200m breaststroke and 4 x 100m freestyle relay, while Zayne is down for no less than 11 events in free, backstroke and butterfly.

"The games comprise the best swimmers from the entire Pacific region with the strongest challenges expected to come from the Japanese, Chinese and New Zealand swimmers."

For Riley, a student at Tomaree Public School, these games are a total new experience.

"I would be happy with a top 10 finish and personal best," he said.

St Philip's College student Zayne is a more experienced campaigner, having competed at the 2013 Pan Pacifics.

"I know what to expect and the competition is tough ... I would be over the moon just to win some medals."

In addition to the international contingent, Riley and Zayne will be competing against swimmers from every Australian state and territory in Adelaide from November 21 - 29.