It's a smooth stroke, almost impossibly smooth for a 91-year-old, arms rising and falling in a steady cadence as he glides across the water.
There's no one faster through a pool at his age in Australia today, but it was in South Africa in 1937 that Eli Kitay really learnt to swim.
Much to the curiosity of the students at Pretoria Boys High School, the South African Olympic swimming team paid them a visit months after the Berlin Olympics.
The South Africans were small players on the world stage, but to a 13-year-old Eli, they were giants.
"I'll always remember when the South African coach Jimmy Green came to our school and brought some of his Olympic swimmers," Mr Kitay said.
"He taught us how to swim and I really got hooked on swimming then.
"To this day, I've had a lot of people say I have a smooth stroke."
Green was a highly regarded coach and his trademark enthusiasm rubbed off on the young Eli.
A quick learner, he went on to have success representing his province Northern Transvaal while he studied engineering at the University of Pretoria.
But swimming took a back seat when he finished his degree and entered the workforce.
Mr Kitay would work as a civil engineer for more than half a century, ending his career with the City of Johannesburg at age 77 and joining his son's family in Perth a week later.
He had kept himself in great shape in South Africa by running, sometimes 50km without rest, but a knee injury put an end to that shortly before he left the country.
By the time he reached Perth's beaches - an exotic sight for a man from Johannesburg - he was eager to return to swimming.
His return has sent State and national records tumbling.
Every weekday, the Menora great-grandfather of six does volunteer work as a lollipop man at his local primary school and then swims about 32 laps.
Last year, he broke the 200m, 800m and 1500m Australian Masters freestyle records for the 90-94 age group.
He also bagged eight State records and an open-water age group championship.
Mr Kitay has no intention of stopping. Indeed, he has only recently got back into the gym in the hope of finding an extra second or two in the pool.
He does it because he loves the camaraderie and competition, and he's determined to stay fit.
If he breaks a record or inspires a younger swimmer along the way, that's a bonus, and it's in no small part because of that brief encounter with Jimmy Green almost 80 years ago.
"I'm 91 now and I sometimes think to myself, 'Well, I'm an old man', but I'm not that bad," he said.
"It's nice to get in the pool and try to be a little bit better than you were last time.
"I think for your quality of life and to set an example for your children, it's so important to keep moving and enjoying yourself, not just sitting around and doing nothing."
