The 19-year-old from Blacksmiths is set to be the youngest competitor in the field for the opening three rounds at North Bondi Beach across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Taylor will also become the first Swansea Belmont club member in the men's series since Josh Blair in 2010, joining Redhead's experienced campaigner Daniel Collins as dual Hunter representatives.

Eighteen-year-old Bella Williams will now fly the Swansea-Belmont flag as well but in the Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series, having received a late call-up earlier to the female draw this week.

Taylor says the experience with Day, also a seven-time Coolongatta Gold winner and claiming last year's ironman crown at the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships, should hold him in good stead.

"I went up there [to Queensland] and trained with Ali Day for a few weeks in the off-season," Taylor told the Newcastle Herald.

"It was good to see how he goes about his training. He's the ultimate professional athlete and is a step above, so trying to match it with him will be tough.

"It was only four weeks in the end but I built a really good base of fitness to come back home and continue on."

Taylor, who earned a spot in the 20-man field via the inaugural Next Gen qualifiers last year, says it's been a lifelong dream to reach this level.

"I started Nippers when I was about four or five years old and my whole family is involved in surf sports," he said. "They used to take me down to all the Nutri-Grain and young Uncle Toby races. Watching guys like Ky Hurst and Shannon Eckstein dominate for so many years was so good. Now to say I'm racing those kind of guys is kind of daunting but it's also an amazing accomplishment for myself as well."

Taylor, who also works as a surf lifesaver at both Blacksmiths and Caves Beach, had his nerves calmed somewhat last weekend by contesting a Summer Of Surf event in Sydney.

"It felt really good and I feel a lot more confident now. It was nice to see where I was at," he said.

Taylor says he hasn't set too many goals for his maiden series, but wants to try and automatically qualify for next year's competition.

"I haven't really set the bar too high for myself because I don't want to let myself down, but at the same time I've got a chance and I want to make the most of it," he said. "I want to try and requalify, which is top 10, so that would be awesome to lock myself in for another year. And to get on a podium would be a dream come true."

Taylor said he was most looking forward to Friday's endurance round. Saturday sees the introduction of a wavecross format. Sunday marks the eliminator.

The Nutri-Grain series concludes with three more rounds at Gold Coast's Kurrawa Beach from February 4 to 6.

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