Amini Fonua will swap Mt Maunganui's 25m Baywave pool for London's new aquatic centre in three weeks when he represents Tonga at the Olympics.
Fonua, 22, yesterday won the dash for $300 cash at the Greerton winter meet at Baywave in the skins medley.
The Tongan torpedo, who is about to start his fifth and final year at Texas A&M; University in the United States, will line up in the 100m breaststroke in London and was yesterday too quick in the quickfire skins medley, where the weekend meet's top 10 swimmers race over five 50m heats, with a minute's break between races.
The slowest two swimmers are eliminated in each heat with the last surviving swimmer taking a hard-earned $300 first prize.
Fonua held off North Shore's Mitchell Donaldson over the final 50m freestyle, clocking 24.05s to his rival's 24.52.
Greerton's Nathan Capp, who is part of Swimming New Zealand's high-performance programme on Auckland's North Shore, had a superb meet but couldn't round it off in the skins, disappearing in the first heat. Otumoetai's Jess Miller was also an early casualty in the female skins, with Taylor Armstrong (Greerton) bowing out in the penultimate butterfly leg.
The women's final was a repeat of last year, with North Shore's Samantha Richter (26.76), a 50m specialist, edging close friend Laura Quilter (Comet) for the major money by 1.5s.
Fonua has spent his US college summer break training with former New Zealand Olympian Jon Winter at the Raumati club near Wellington and said the cash would come in handy as he drove south again today to wrap up his Olympic build-up.
Born and raised in Auckland to a Tongan father and English mum, Fonua left for Texas A&M; four years ago. The eminent college an hour out of Houston has 50,000 students and its swim team is rated among the top 12 nationwide.
Fonua, who won the 100m individual medley, 50m breaststroke and 50m 'fly at Baywave, as well as the skins, is one of three students Olympics-bound, with two female swimmers making the US team. The telecommunications major qualified at the open world championships in Shanghai when he was 25th in the 50m breaststroke.
"In February of this year I won my first conference championship title, which was great as I'd worked four years to get it," he said. He will head back to the US after London to finish his degree, able to train with A&M;'s swim team but no longer able to compete after completing his mandatory four years.
Fonua is one of four Tongans heading to London, joining a hammer thrower, boxer and sprinter at the Games. He heads back to Tonga at least once a year and is a champion of the island nation's learn-to-swim programme.
"Mum's from Grimsby in the UK, a little fishing village, and Dad reckons we must have picked up our swimming genetics from her side because, sadly, he can't swim. For a nation surrounded by water you'd think all Tongans could swim, but sadly not.
"That's one of the reasons I make sure I go back, to try and elevate the learn-to-swim programme. They do have one but it's very basic, so it's great that kids are learning to swim which in turn might save lives."