The self-proclaimed ‘Mayor of King Island’ is the first athlete from King Island, Tasmania, to make a Commonwealth Games team.

The 22-year-old booked his place at GC2018 after winning the men’s 10,000m national title in December 2017, with his selection confirmed in the first Australian athletics team announcement on Tuesday.

Located in the Bass Strait, King Island has a population of fewer than 2,000.

“I feel like I’m racing with 1,500 people from King Island behind me, because it’s a pretty small community,” McSweyn told GC2018.com.

“I know I’ll have a lot of them following me in April, which is a good incentive to hopefully go well.

“It’s a pretty good feeling especially because it’s a home Games.

“There’s not many places you get to compete in front of a packed crowd with all your family and friends there so I’m definitely looking forward to the opportunity, that’s for sure.”

The selection follows a huge 2017 for McSweyn, who made his first IAAF world cross country championship and world championship teams, achieving two of four goals he has been dreaming of since he was a kid.

The third goal will be ticked off his list in April.

“The four things I’ve wanted to make since I was a kid were world cross country [championships], to make the world champs as well, Commonwealth Games this year, and then obviously the 2020 Olympics,” he said.

The dreams only started to feel like a possibility for McSweyn when he joined Nic Bideau’s Melbourne Track Club in 2016, a move that saw his performances first start to improve, and now show no sign of slowing down.

“Since I took up running you dream of making those teams,” he said.

“But probably over the last 18 months, joining the Melbourne Track Club, I started to believe that it was possible to make the teams, so it became more realistic.

For Details: https://www.gc2018.com/article/distance-runnings-next-king-stewart-mcsweyn