after the youngster smashed three national records in the recent Winter Age Group Championships.

A member of the Sharks Club, Nicholas only began competitive swimming earlier this year but, according to the club's head coach Martin Allen, he has shown "exceptional talent''.

One of the records he set last month was held by Sydney Olympian Stephen Fahy and had stood for 14 years. Another, held by Jack Negro, had also been in the local record books since 1986.

"He's a great little swimmer with an awful lot of potential,'' said Allen.

"He only joined the club last May, but has improved beyond recognition.'' The son of Mailboxes Unlimited owner, Steve Thomson, Nicholas set his first mark in the under-eight 100 metres backstroke in which he clocked one minute, 36.91 seconds, more than a second inside the record set by Fahy (1:38.07).

He then demolished Negro's old record of 3:43.18 in the 200 metres individual medley, finishing in an amazing 3:36.65. His hat-trick of records was completed in the 100 metres freestyle in which he clocked 1:25.13, eclipsing Michael Hanson's 1988 mark by just 32 hundredths of a second.

Making a splash: Eight-year-old Nicholas Thomson has set three national age group records in the last month.