Swim coach Gary Hollywood is confident star pupil Lewis Clareburt could be the best in the world with the right resources, but has warned time is running out.
Hollywood hopes the young Kiwi's historic success at the Commonwealth Games will encourage a much-needed funding increase for Swimming New Zealand.
Athletes like Clareburt don’t come along every day. New Zealanders rarely shine this brightly in the pool - and with fair reason.
"I think Australia get something like $33 million for their swimming and we're not quite scratching a million, so I think we’re punching well above our weight," Clareburt told Newshub, after winning his second gold medal in less than 24 hours.
While the Aussies are swimming in cash, Clareburt has been training in a 25m public pool.
The NZ team spent a month at a pre-Games training camp in Europe, where the use of a competition-size pool clearly paid dividends.
"We're definitely under-resourced," Hollywood said. "That's the biggest thing we need, better resources.
"If someone could build a 50m pool and give us a bit of support, it would be a lot easier."
In Clareburt, Hollywood realises he has a special talent on his hands and he's desperate to avoid that potential being squandered.
"He could be the best in the world if he wants to be," he said. "We're running out of time for Lewis."
For now, Clareburt's focus remains on the great Birmingham trifecta, with the 200m individual medley still to come, but the real prize is at next year's Paris Olympics.
Golden things don’t just take time, though - they take plenty of money too.
