The hard work was rewarded for Ayaki Iwahashi when she completed her set of three medals at Moana Pool this week.
Iwahashi (16), a pupil at Columba College, won her medals in the girls aged 16 to 18 backstroke events at the New Zealand age-group division 2 championships.
The gold medal came in the 200m backstroke in a time of 2min 28.67sec. It was a personal best by 6sec.
Since joining coach Gennadiy Labara's Osca squad eight months ago she has improved her time by 17sec.
Iwahashi, who comes from Osaka in Japan, won her silver medal in the 100m backstroke in a personal best time of 1min 09.03sec.
She completed her set last night when she came third in the 50m backstroke in 33.04sec.
"Ayaki is a very strong swimmer and has the potential to go a long way," Labara said.
Rebecca Firth (Rotorua) won gold medals in the girls aged 16 to 18 50m butterfly (32.01sec) and 200m freestyle (2min 19.61sec). It was a personal-best time by 2sec in the 200m freestyle.
Firth (16) has been swimming competitively since the age of 8 and has made a breakthrough at national level over the last two years.
She has enjoyed her time in Dunedin and celebrated her gold medals by visiting Cadbury's chocolate factory.
"I am going to have a walk up Baldwin Street [the steepest street in the world] tomorrow."
Matthew Bonniface (Howick-Pakuranga) won his first national title in the 100m breaststroke (1min 14.50sec) and backed it up with his second in the 200m freestyle (2min 04.71sec).
Bonniface (18), a student in English and media studies at Auckland University, has been swimming competitively for five years and his next target is to qualify for the open national championships.
Michel Gray (Waves) won a gold and silver medal in the boys aged 15 grade before he had to dash away to Palmerston North for a national water polo tournament.
Gray (15), a pupil at Otago Boys' High School, improved by 9sec when he won the 400m freestyle in 4min 25.41sec.
He was ranked second in the event and was expected to reach the podium.
But he was not expected to get a medal in the 50m butterfly where he was ranked twentieth.
He surprised everyone by capturing the silver medal in 29.24sec. It was a personal best time by 2.8sec.
Laura Biddiscombe (Jasi, Christchurch) added two more gold medals to her collection last night in the girls aged 16 to 18 grade when she won the 200m butterfly (2min 35.65sec) and 100m freestyle (1min 01.77sec).
She has won four gold medals at the championships.
Her club mate Jarryd Drummond went one better in the boys aged 16 to 18 grade and has now won five gold medals.
The two he added last night were the 100m freestyle (56.34sec) and the 50m backstroke (30.06sec).
