Top Otumoetai swimmer Ruby Matthews in NZ squad

TOP CLASS: Otumoetai's Ruby Mathews has joined the elite group of New Zealand swimmers. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Otumoetai club swimmer Ruby Matthews has made the transition into the top tier of elite young swimmers in New Zealand.

The 18-year-old has won a coveted place in the NZ High Performance Squad based at the Millennium Centre on Auckland's North Shore.

"I am thinking of finishing Year 13 and joining next year when I go up there to uni as well. I will be swimming full-time and full-time study at the same time," Matthews said.

"I have been up there before and watched the squad training hard and I really wanted to be part of that."

Matthews is goal driven and totally focused on her craft like all high-performing athletes.

"The Olympics and Commonwealths are my goals and perhaps world champs as well. So I will just see how next year goes.

"It is probably a bit late for the Commonwealth Games [2018] now so the next one is the goal and with the Olympics I am aiming for 2024 to give myself time to grow a bit more and mature as a swimmer."

In the last year she has broken 23 BOP age group records and three BOP Open records. Her outstanding performances over the past 12 months were recognised at the Swimming Bay of Plenty 2017 awards where she won seven individual awards.

"I was really pleased to come runner-up to Kane Radford as the overall top swimmer because he went to the Olympics. Getting top FINA points [male and female] was also quite cool. That meant I was one of the fastest swimmers overall which is what I wanted to be," she said.

"Each year is different. I achieved different feats in different meets throughout the last couple of years but getting to more international meets has been good growing as a swimmer."

Butterfly is now her preferred stroke rather than breaststroke but her medley times are indicative of her ability in all four disciplines.

Matthews is coached at Otumoetai by Mike Lee, who won the 2017 BOP Coach of the Year award.

Lee says the teenager's personal commitment and work ethic are standout features.

"She turns up regularly and works very well towards her goals. She is very much so a leader and keeps the younger swimmers in check for me and leads them on how I would like training to be done.

"She is very dedicated to what she wants to achieve and she has been a fun subject to work with."

Lee believes Matthews has the talent and drive to reach the lofty goals she has set herself.

"She has the ability and she has certainly shown me perseverance which is one of the most important attributes she will need. Every sportsperson needs that because there will be more rocky parts to the trip than smooth parts."

Swimming Bay of Plenty 2017 awards
Ruby Matthews

Breaststroke long course and short course female swimmer of the year
Butterfly long course and short course female swimmer of the year
Individual Medley long course and short course female of the year
Top FINA Points athlete 2017
Best Performance at Swimming BOP Central Swimming Long Course Champs 2017
Best Performance at Swimming BOP Short Course Champs 2017
Runner-up to Kane Radford for Swimmer of the Year