Jarrod Poort is bound for London.
Des Merritt, Tyson Poort, Helen Merritt wait for the day.
During the Olympics the lights in Wellington and high energy nerves in London will be on when a heat of the 1500 metres begins at the Olympic Aquatic centre in England.
Helen and Des Merritt in far away Wellington will be watching their grandson Jarrod Poort shine in the glorious path of Keiren Perkins and Grant Hackett.
“We went to see him in Adelaide when he was trying to qualify and we jumped like crazy when he
won,” proud grandmother Mrs Merritt said.
“I couldn’t control myself we were dancing around with joy for him.”
Jarrod’s brother Tyson, who is a runner and just 13, says the south coast town of Warilla will be up early to watch.
Tyson is with his grandparents in Wellington currently but is heading home to the south coast on the weekend.
“Its pretty cool really,” he said. “He started pretty young and trains every morning from about 4.30... Oh he has Wednesdays off sometimes.
“Yeah, I’ll be up watching him and cheering madly.”
Jarrod learned about his selection at the last minute, when he made the qualifying time by just over one second.
Then an email to his dad Garry confirmed his journey to England for the Olympic Games.
“We then had a big party at the Swim club in Warilla for him. He’s in Spain now,” Tyson said.
“Its going to be a very nervous few weeks for us all. He is such a cool, calm collected kid,” Mrs Merritt she said
‘’It’s a big moment.
“Myself and my husband are hoping he just does his best, whatever he is does we’ll be proud.”
