Burgess, 13, finished third in the girls 12-14 years 200 metre breaststroke at the recent Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Swimming Championships to progress to the next stage.

A top three finish was required to book a place in the CIS team for All Schools but Burgess ended up qualifying in style.

Her time of two minutes and 54.04 seconds put her almost six seconds clear of her nearest opponent.

The Bathurst swimmer has progressed strongly over the past 18 months since joining City Of Orange Swim Club.

City Of Orange coach Tanya Chapman said Burgess is fulfilling her potential.

“Breahna’s the only swimmer from our club to make through to All Schools. The work she puts in is amazing,” she said.

“Recently she’s also been picked in the NSW Sharks development squad. That’s thanks to the extra work she’s put in over the last six months. Getting into that team is no easy feat.”

Burgess was unlucky not to also qualify for the 50m and 100m breaststroke events after coming home eighth and seventh respectively.

“She’s a fantastic breaststroke swimmer. She would have loved to qualify for the 50m and 100m as well but she wasn’t quite warmed up enough. Breahna’s got that great back end speed though in the 200m,” Chapman said.

Burgess is the first swimmer to qualify for All Schools at the club since Chapman took the coaching role.

Burgess also took part in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly plus the 4x50m freestyle and medley relays. Her best result was a ninth in the 100m freestyle.

It’s been a tough road for Burgess in the pool over the past year but her CIS results have made the journey worthwhile.

“I was very proud of myself when I made it through and I’m glad to be the first person to make it through to All Schools for my coach,” Burgess said.

“Training is very intense but it’s very good when you get the results that you want. My coach has been really good. She pushes you really hard.”

Even with a large gap back to the fourth-placed competitor in the 200m breaststroke at the CIS Championships it took Burgess some time to realise she’d qualified.

“I had no idea. I was thinking ‘Gosh that was a hard race’, went to do my warm-down and then everyone said ‘You made it through’,” she said.

Burgess heads to All Schools with one big goal in mind.

“I’ll try and get a PB there,” she said.

“I’ll try for a top 10 but a PB would be great.”

The CIS Swimming Championships results add to what has already been a fantastic 2018 for Burgess.

In January’s Australian Age Open Water Swimming Championships at Adelaide Burgess finished at the head of the field for the mixed 12-14 years age group.

She completed the 2.5km swim in a time of 33 minutes and 13 seconds.

At February’s NSW Country Championships Burgess won bronze in the 12 and under 400m freestyle and knocked over 20 seconds off her personal best in the 400m individual medley.

The NSW All Schools Secondary Swimming Championships will be held on May 11 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.