Rapidly emerging Albury swimming sensation Sienna Toohey met her idol after smashing a 24-year-old record.
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The Albury High School year nine student became the fastest 15-year-old female breaststroker in Australian history at the Olympic trials earlier this month, breaking Leisel Jones' record from 2000.
Toohey went within around 30cms of winning gold over 100m after being pipped by Jenna Strauch and Ella Ramsey in the final moments.
Jones remains one of Australia's youngest Olympic medallists after snaring silver over 100m as a 15-year-old in Sydney.
"I met Leisel Jones on the last night, which was really cool," Toohey said.
"I saw Leisel down on pool deck and really wanted a photo with her.
"She came over and gave me a hug and said, 'that was an amazing breaststroke swim, I could never have done that when I was your age'."
Toohey was just three when Jones competed at her last Olympics in 2012, so the youngster had only learnt of her achievements in recent years.
"That was the goal, that was the only thing I wanted out of the trials was to break that record," Toohey offered.
The teenager posted 1min07.01sec - a personal best - to win praise from one of Australia's best known coaches in Swimming Australia Performance Pathways and Technical Lead's Leigh Nugent.
"'Nugget' (Nugent) texted me just after the race and said, 'that's set her (Toohey) up for the next two to three years," Albury Swimming Club coach Wayne Gould revealed.
Toohey's bold gamble to take the race out hard early also earned tremendous praise.
"I'm a 50-100m breaststroker, so I use my starting speed, while the other girls are 100, 200m swimmers, so I had the immediate speed and they build up speed, I had to get out in front of them and try and hold on," she explained.
Fellow Albury Swimming Club member Isabelle Rae also contested the 100 and 200m breaststroke and impressed.
Toohey returned to school on the Monday, just 72 hours after contesting the 200m.
"While Belle and I were racing, the school had basically stopped to watch us race, which was really nice," Toohey suggested.
The Paris Games start on July 26, but there's still upcoming events for Australia's best young talent, with School Sport Australia Swimming Championships on the Gold Coast from July 27, while the Junior Pan Pacific Championships will be held in Canberra the following month.
