He's 13, only been swimming five years, and he might make it to Beijing!

Here is Australia's best young swimming prospect. From The Australian: "... AUSTRALIA is set to adopt another Kiwi-born potential sporting star. Thirteen-year-old Te Haumi Maxwell, born in New Zealand but raised in Australia, is being hailed as the best male swimming prospect since Ian Thorpe. He won five gold medals and a bronze at the NSW state age championships in Sydney last week, clocking times that make him the fastest in the world for his age. ..."

Analogies to Michael Phlps and Ian Thorpe are explored. [Link]

His Maori name translates to "Into the Light" and at 12-years-of-age he is breaking Thorpe's age group records.

Meet Te Haumi Maxwell, a Maori* boy down under that is most likely the faster 12-year-old on earth. This could be the kid that Michael Phelps is looking over his shoulder come London in 2012.

Look how insane his times are! From the article:

" Described as the "Revesby Workers' Club swimming prodigy who is the world No. 1 in his age group", Maxwell - whose name Te Haumi is Maori for "into the light" - clocked 25.52sec over 50m at the Western Suburbs district meet on May 27.
Thorpe's best, the meet record at 12, was reported as 28.24 sec and was set back in 1995, three years before he became the youngest ever world champion, over 400m freestyle at Perth 1998.
Maxwell, who lives in Wollongong and trains at the Revesby and Birrong pools, is then reported to have taken the Trinity Grammar School meet in Summer Hill by storm, breaking the legend's 1:09.14 sec 100m medley age-12 record with a swift 1:07.14.

Maxwell was not done yet: Thorpe's 50m district backstroke record of 31.85 sec was next to feel the axe, the new holder coming home 1.83sec faster.

"It feels pretty good knowing I'm right up there with the best," Maxwell told the paper. "I want to go right up there and win gold for Australia." [Link] [More]

* The Maori people are the indigenous race of New Zealand as are the Aborigine people are the indigenous people of Australia. (BTW, The Maori cut a much better deal with the New Zealand government than the Aborigines did with the Australian. I hope I don't offend anybody in Australia for saying that?)