PLUCKED from school, Reagan Wickens will have to put his studies on hold as he prepares for a busy 2012 Paralympics schedule later this month.
The year 12 St Patrick's College Sutherland student will contest six events as he searches for a Paralympics gold to join his Para-Pan Pacific Championships medals.
Wickens, 17, had originally pencilled in Rio de Janiero in 2016 to make his Paralympics debut, but strong performances at the Para-Pan Pacific Championships in Canada put him into contention.
"It was then that I realised I could have a chance of making it to London," said Wickens of Grays Point.
"I continued in my tough training resume which was 10 sessions a week, including boxing and gym."
Wickens, who was born with achondroplasia (dwarfism), is ranked fifth in the world in his favoured 400 metre freestyle event but will also compete in 50m and 100m freestyle races plus the 200m individual medley, 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke.
He left with the rest of the Australian Paralympics swim team for a training camp in Cardiff, Wales earlier this month.
They arrive in London on August 27 — just two days before the opening ceremony.
"I would be happy if I performed some personal best times and reached the final in the 400m freestyle," Wickens said.