Former Olympian Hayley Lewis has broken down while describing how happy she is for her son, Kai Taylor, after he won silver as a member of Australia’s 4x100m men’s freestyle team.

Lewis told Nine she only found out Taylor was swimming that afternoon when he telephoned her and her husband Greg while they were out for a walk.

“He wasn’t supposed to swim, and we knew how much he just loves teams, he loves relay teams and loves swimming for Australia, obviously. And you know, he just rang us before he swam, and said, ‘I feel really good, I’m going to do my best’. And we said, ‘we know you will just get up there and just have fun.’ And we’re just absolutely stoked to him,” she said.

Lewis, who paused and said she ‘can barely talk’ as she started crying as she spoke of her son’s achievements, said Taylor would be happy with his time in the 4x100m ahead of hopefully swimming in the 4x200m later in the week.

“Being a mum, it’s a real team effort that these kids have behind them, and we’re just so happy for him. He’s worked so hard,” she said.