And that theory rang true for the 18-year-old when he represented New South Wales at the Australian Paralympic Youth Games at Albert Park in Melbourne last month.

Competing against swimmers from across Australia, United States, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, Rhind finished with five gold medals and five personal best times.

In just two days the locally produced swimmer bagged gold in the 50 metres freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley and credits much of his success to mentor Brendon Keogh.

He smashed his 100m butterfly personal best time by 6.57 seconds, setting a new Australian record in the process and bettered his 200m individual medley mark by 3.46 seconds.

The 2007 Yass Sportsperson of the Year has gone from strength-to-strength since finishing school. In August of this year, Rhind set a new world record at the Telstra Short Course Swimming Championships and in May, won five silver medals at the Arafura Games in Darwin.

His dream is to one day represent Australia at the Paralympic Games.