But it was the manner in which Doug set the new marks that was the talk of the pool deck, with the records not just broken but smashed.

The amazing run started in the 12 years 50m freestyle where he took 5.03secs off the previous best time, with another outstanding effort coming in the 50m breastroke, where he burst through the 50-second barrier to stop the clock in 49secs, 7.34secs quicker than the old mark.

Doug also dominated the senior 50m backstroke where he took an incredible 10.88secs off the record.

The mindboggling times finished up with Doug embarrassing the previous mark in the senior boys 50m butterfly, as he took close to a third off, in lowering it by 19.56secs, with his other records coming in the all-age 200 individual medley and 100m freestyle.

Doug was not the only Hanwood student to set new standards, with Quade Stevenson breaking the oldest record on the books, the junior boys 50m breastroke set in 1997.

Quade also broke the junior boy 50m butterfly record, with Meg Crosssingham getting in on the act in the 11 years girls 50m butterfly.

Thorpe earnt early bragging rights this sporting year by taking out first among the respective houses, with Karen Conlan praising all of the students for their encouragement.

“The greatest thing I noticed was the participation by the kids regardless of their ability and the sportsmanship of their competitors and the crowd to cheer all of the kids on,” Conlan said.

“So because of that we had a very positive feel to the carnival.”