“I would love to get on the podium”: Bunbury Bullet Alex Saffy ready to dive into Commonwealth Games debut

Teenage swimming sensation Alex Saffy said it felt surreal he was about to dive into his Commonwealth Games debut with less than two months of international experience under his cap.

The 16-year-old debuted for Australia in the Para World Swimming Championships in Portugal last month, where he claimed a bronze medal in the S10 category in the 100m butterfly final.

Saffy, who unofficially smashed the world record in the S9 category of the 200m Butterfly by more than five seconds, still remembers watching the last Commonwealth Games in his living room four years ago.

“I remember very clearly watching the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, and to be going to my first games four years later is unreal,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone expects anything from me but to do my best, so hopefully I can do that and the result will come.

“I would love to get on the podium, but I will see how it goes.”

Saffy has dyskinetic cerebral palsy and used to swim able-bodied, but as the symptoms progressed he was regularly disqualified and encouraged to take up para-swimming.

Last month he took home his first international medal on debut, claiming bronze in the S10 category in the 100m butterfly final at the Para World Swimming Championships in Portugal.

The West Australian Institute of Sport swimmer even qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics but could not be selected because he had not been internationally classified.

“It is pretty unreal, I have been dreaming of this since I was a kid and everything is falling into place at the moment,” he said.

“I am just going to live in the moment and enjoy the experience.”

Saffy, who is aptly nicknamed the Bunbury Bullet, said he had not yet gotten used to swimming in the green and gold.

“It is pretty surreal, it is still pretty new to me, and it is crazy how far things have come in the last 18 months,” Saffy said.

“(To win a medal at the Para World Swimming Championships) was pretty cool, I don’t remember much, it was a bit of a blur, but it was just amazing to represent Australia.”