At just eight years old, Fletch Gammon from Cootamundra is already making waves, literally, that most grown-ups can only dream about.
On a warm November weekend at the Tumut Swimming Carnival, the little bloke in the blue and white Cootamundra uniform lined up for three events and walked away with three personal bests, three blue ribbons, and first place in the entire 8 & Under division.
But the numbers tell only half the story.
His dad and coach, Adam Gammon, still seems stunned at his boy’s feats when he talks about the 100 metre freestyle.
“He smashed his previous best by over 18 seconds,” Adam says, laughing in disbelief. “That’s more than half a lap.”
At that age, dropping 18 seconds is like an adult knocking two minutes off a 400 metre run. It just doesn’t happen.
Just three Thursdays earlier, Fletch had already etched his name into the Cootamundra Swimming and Lifesaving Club’s history books. He broke a 100 metre freestyle record for 8 & Under boys that had stood untouched since 1991, thirty-something years.
“He took 3.7 seconds off it,” Adam says proudly. That record had seen generations come and go.” That was until this little kid rocked up and said, ‘Hold my goggles.’ But ask Adam why his son is so fast, and he’ll grin and give the most dad-like answer possible. “His success has nothing to do with any hard work,” he jokes. Then he gets serious. “Honestly? He’s just a natural. When he’s at training, he listens, and he’s got that little bit of fire in him. To be a swimmer, you have to have that little bit of fire.”
That fire is carefully protected. Fletch trains two to three times a week, moving from one-hour sessions to an hour and a half. No more. “The last thing we want to do is overwork them when they’re young and have them lose interest by the time they’re teenagers,” Adam explains.
“You see a lot of kids under 12 doing six, eight, ten sessions a week in big programs, and by 14 or 15, they’re gone. They burn bright and burn out. We’re trying to build a swimmer who still loves it when he’s 17.”
Adam refuses to box Fletch in early. “He has a preference for freestyle, but I don’t like to pigeonhole them at this age. I’ve got a 17-year-old training with us now who was average at butterfly until 15, and now he’s magic. You just don’t know. Every stroke has its benefits, even if it’s just for the feel of the water or fitness. At eight, we let him swim everything he wants.” And everything he wants is, well, everything. Not many eight-year-olds even attempt a full 100 metre race.
At Tumut, only five in his age group did; the rest stuck to 25 metres. Fletch? He ended up the ninth-fastest 100 metre freestyler across the entire carnival, open age, right up to 99 years old.
In his own age group, he won by almost 20 seconds, nearly half a pool length. He’s been around pools his whole life. “He’s grown up in the water,” Adam says.
Jake narrowly missed the open 50 Breast record.
“Since he was born, I’ve been coaching. Even before he was in the squad, he was just mucking around on the side while I coached. It definitely helps.”
Last year, still in Year 2, Fletch broke the 50 metre freestyle record at Sacred Heart Primary in Cootamundra, qualified for the Sydney All Schools carnival, and finished a heartbreaking fourth, missing the NSW final by a whisker.
“He was only the second-fastest heat,” Adam remembers. “Ten kids were seeded ahead of him. He won his heat by 15 metres, swimming completely on his own, no one to chase, which is the hardest way to swim fast, and still ended up beating six from the faster heat. If he’d been lane-to-lane with them, I reckon he would’ve given them a real scare.”
Does the little champion even realise how good he is? Adam laughs, “No, he doesn’t. The weekend at Tumut was probably the first time it clicked for him a little bit. He just does it because he loves it. He doesn’t swim to break records; the records just seem to get in his way.”
This summer, Fletch gets another shot at Sydney, still in the same age group. His dad is taking the long view. “We haven’t even worked out his best events yet,” Adam says. “We’ll keep letting him swim whatever he feels like, keep the joy in it, and somewhere down the track we’ll figure out his niche. For now, he’s just an eight-year-old kid who smiles like the sun when he gets out of the water holding a ribbon.”
And if the last twelve months are anything to go by, there’ll be a lot more ribbons, a lot more broken records, and a lot more very surprised grown-ups watching a small boy from Cootamundra fly down the pool like he was born with fins. Keep an eye on this name. Fletch Gammon isn’t just making waves; he’s making history, one giant, joyful splash at a time.
– Tully Potts
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.