Thursday’s national 10,000-metre championships at the Zatopek Classic in Melbourne unites McSweyn with Jack Rayner, another precocious talent who has enjoyed a breakout year.

Both train together under Nic Bideau in Melbourne and broke course records in winning this year’s Burnie and Launceston 10s.

With the nation’s best 1500m exponents Ryan Gregson and Jordy Williamsz operating as pace-makers, the race is expected to provide as much Albert Park excitement as the annual Formula One equivalents. 

Bideau admitted he can’t wait for the pair's first showdown since the 5000m Commonwealth Games trials in February which was won by Morgan McDonald but saw McSweyn finish ahead of Rayner.

“They’ve improved a lot since then,” he said. “Jack has won 13 races straight including the Commonwealth half-marathon title in Cardiff while Stewy has improved his PB at 1500m, 5000, 10,000 and is so exciting.

“At training you’d say Stewy is definitely superior but I’ve been around this game long enough to know this is just training, the game is on Thursday night.”

Bideau has been coaching McSweyn since 2014 and Rayner since 2017 and believes King Island’s 23-year-old Commonwealth Games representative has the ability to surpass Craig Mottram as Australia’s best distance runner. 

”I definitely think now he has a 13.05 (5000m) and 3.34 (1500m) that puts him in the same class. He is clearly fast enough.

“He’s got to run at the top level to his best every time, that’s what the top guys do. You don’t see Mo Farah or (Eliud) Kipchoge running badly. It’s about concentration and mental approach. It’s not just about how well he can run but if he can compete. And Jack has got a better record of winning races than Stewy.”

Since winning the Zatopek last year, McSweyn has set personal best times over six different distances including 28:05.37 for the 10,000m in Oslo in June.

The Australian record of 27:24.95 was set in 2011 by Ben St Lawrence, of NSW. ​Rayner, who turns 23 next week, has a PB of 28:59.24.

“I’ve been watching a lot of athletics and not seen many people who train like McSweyn. He is something else,” Bideau said.

“He is just so efficient – 60-second laps just come so easily to him, he can churn them out.

“First he was breaking King Island records, then Tasmanian records and in 2019 every distance he runs over 1500m the Australian record will be under threat, and that begins on Thursday night.

​”He ran 28:03 to win the Burnie 10 in October and should be able to run 30 seconds faster on a track, especially with pacemakers.

“That will bring him into the region. Things have got to go perfectly to break records but he has the capacity. He is as good as Ben.

“This is the race where we first saw Stewy deliver what he is capable of and let’s hope he can kick off another year the same way.”

Bideau said having two world-class contemporaries is exciting for Australian athletics.

“They’ve got 10 great years ahead of them. They get on well and we’re really lucky to have both because I guarantee they will have a really good rivalry.

“Both should go to the next world championships and Olympic Games."