Ethan Calleja knows he is doing something unusual when he takes to the pool.
Instead of swimming laps, the 18-year-old practices the tub, the surface arch and the front pike.
They are not your usual selection of swimming strokes, but then again Calleja is not your usual swimmer. He is a breed — one of just two men competing in synchronized swimming in Australia.
"It's sort of like, if not me, someone else would do it, so I might as well take the opportunity."
Calleja is making the most of his opportunity by training with the WA state squad, with the aim of being selected to compete at next year's World Aquatic Championships.
Men have only been able to compete at the event since 2015, when mixed duets where introduced.
To be chosen, Calleja and duet partner Danielle Kettlewell will need to convince Australian selectors they are of a high enough quality to represent the country.
If they can do that at the nationals in Sydney next April, Calleja will become the first man to ever represent Australia in international synchronized swimming.
"It's not where I would have seen myself last year. [But] I would love to go to the World Championships, and that's the goal," he said.
The decision to allow men to compete in mixed duets at the World Championships has led to a slow but steady increase in the number of males competing in the sport around the world.
"The first time it came on to the world stage, there were about five mixed duets," WA Synchro head coach Briana Preiss said.
"Now there around 15, and they range in quality from the top five, who [score] in the 9's just like the females, to the bottom of the scale."
That growth has preceded increased optimism about the possibility of men eventually being allowed to compete at the Olympics.
"Mixed duets has taken really well to the rest of the world … countries are taking it on, so the momentum is to get it selected into the Olympic Games," Preiss said.
For Calleja, the Olympics would complete a lifelong ambition.
"It's something I've always dreamed about, especially with swimming, and I thought I closed that door," he said
"It would be nice to see an even playing field for everyone. I've seen the guys from America, Ukraine, Russia and these guys that have been training for years beyond me, and how long they've been waiting."
But while Calleja is now making waves in the sport, his entry into artistic swimming — as it is now officially now known — was mostly accidental.
He was coming to the end of a 13-year swimming career which had seen him compete at national level in breaststroke, and was looking for a job.
Calleja worked as a coach for about a year before being encouraged to give the sport a go.
It has not been without its struggles, with the teenager initially battling to master the basics.
"When I first had Ethan he couldn't float, so I had him go upside down and hang in a vertical, and he would hit his head on the bottom," Preiss said.
"Definitely in the winter months we were like, 'what are we doing at 5:30am freezing?'"
Calleja's improvement in the short time he's been in the sport has surprised his coach.
He started out doing an hour a day of training for three days a week. Now, he trains three hours a day, three days a week, as well as doing rhythmic gymnastics and ballet.
Calleja said the majority of people were supportive of his ambitions, but there were some puzzled looks when people found out he was a synchronized swimmer.
"It's something I take on the chin and keep going," he said.
For now, Calleja is hoping those eyes see him competing for Australia at next year's World Championships.