Louth Park swimmer Abbey Harkin will don the green and gold colours of Australia for the first time today when she represents her country in the 2012 trans-Tasman series.
The week-long series, involving 70 talented teenage swimmers from Australia and New Zealand, kick starts in Canberra before moving on to Wagga Wagga and Melbourne.
There will be two meets at each venue and Harkin, 14, will swim in a variety of races. Harkin, who was recently included in the NSW Institute of Sport program, went into camp at the Australian Institute of Sport on Saturday and trained yesterday.
Harkin, a 2012 Maitland Junior Sportsperson of the Year nominee won three gold medals at the national age championships held in Brisbane earlier this year.