Swift will compete for his birth country, New Zealand, but started his career at Shepparton Swimming Club many moons ago.
He currently trains with US college swimming team Arizona State Sun Devils.
Swift’s mum, Michelle, who is kept busy in her role as head coach at Shepparton Swimming Club, said she couldn’t be prouder of how much Carter had achieved throughout his swimming journey.
“We are extremely proud of him both as a family and as the head coach of SSC where he started his journey,” she said.
“We know how much hard work he has put in to getting to this stage of representing his birth country at an international level.
“He has spent the last 15 years building up to this moment, with training seven-plus sessions in the pool a week, planning all our family trips away around access to pools and competitions; it’s nice to see him finally getting some reward for the time and effort he and we have put into swimming.”
Michelle, who will be watching along at home with the entire family, said, although the nerves had subsided over the years, the lead-up to the race was always frantic.
“I don’t get as nervous as I used to get when he was still at home, but guaranteed an hour before he starts racing and I can watch the live stream I’m all over the place,” she said.
With Swift training in the US throughout the pandemic, the past few years have not been without challenges.
“It was incredibly hard, he left home at the age of 17 to attend college in the USA, over the past five years he has dealt with having his team cut at Eastern Michigan University at the completion of his first year away, to relocating across to the other side of America to the amazing Arizona State University for the next four years of his life and then having to deal with the pandemic and the effect it had on his training capacity as well; as a family we’ve been unable to visit him for over two-and-a-half years,” Michelle said.
“He also relocated to Canada for four months to stay with friends when the worst of the pandemic hit the USA. He’s missed many major occasions at home, including his brother’s wedding and family occasions, as we have missed celebrating his major milestones, including his graduation from ASU with a Masters in Sports Law and Business, and his sporting achievements.”
Despite a challenging couple of years, Michelle said the mood was positive as Carter made final preparations ahead of the championships.
“He’s feeling great and loving his time in pre-camp in Slovakia with the NZ team and catching up with his old friends in the Australian team. He plans on embracing every opportunity as they head to Budapest today,” she said.
In the swimming titles across eight days from June 18-25, the Australian crew of Kaylee McKeown, Shayna Jack, Madison Wilson and Abbey Harkin will lead the charge in the women’s events.
In the men’s events, Kyle Chalmers, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Mack Horton and Mitch Larkin will provide Australia’s best gold medal chances.
The championships will be broadcast on 9Now, with all events to be broadcast live on 9Gem and 9Now from Saturday, June 18.
