Dividing his time between playing rugby league with the Cessnock Goannas and competitive swimming, not to mention dabbling in surf racing and state-level sprinting, the 13-year-old is a driven athlete.

On Friday, Whitfield will compete in the 13-years 50-metre freestyle at the Georgina Hope National Age Swimming Championships in Homebush.

This will be the All Saints College, St Joseph’s Campus, year 8 student’s first taste of competition at this level.

“I’m feeling pretty good. It’s quite an honour to go and swim in Sydney,” Whitfield said.

“So I’m pretty excited.

“This is the first time I’ve competed at the Australian championships.”

“There was one swim before the nationals that I had to get the [qualifying] time in, and that was the Country Championships,” he said.

“I hadn’t got the time before that, and that was my last chance, and I happened to get it.”

Whitfield has been training as a swimmer for about five years and trains about five times a week at the Just Like Fish swim school under the tutelage of Damon Rodd.

Outside of swimming commitments, he trains and plays between second-row and lock for the Goannas’ second division side.

And despite not training as a sprinter, he won a state medal for running.

“It was sort of lucky, I guess,” Whitfield said.