Tiffany Thomas-Kane's interests are not wildly different from that of other 15-year-olds, but the year 9 Ravenswood student is no ordinary teenager. She holds two world records, has been the unwilling centre of a media storm around an alleged bullying case at her prestigious north shore school, and now, transcending all that, is heading to Rio to swim for Australia in the Paralympics.

Born with hypochondroplasia, a developmental disorder causing short stature, Tiffany started swimming training at six, was racing by 10 and set two world records in breaststroke at 14. She competes in showjumping and dressage. Her mother Lee Thomas says her younger daughter has "a killer instinct" and thrives in a competitive environment.

In an incident at her school on year 8 camp last year, she was allegedly stripped and pushed into a cupboard, in what she alleges was a culmination of several incidents of bullying. Two other students were suspended and one expelled. The story became notorious when the departing school captain, Sarah Haynes, gave a much-reported speech accusing the school of focusing on its business interests over the care of individual girls. It later emerged that the captain's younger sister had been expelled over the alleged bullying incident. The parents have sued the school, in an ongoing case, arguing that their younger daughter was expelled without the school having sufficient grounds for its decision.

At the time of the school camp incident, Tiffany was preparing to go to Glasgow for the World Championships.

"I just put it away, I didn't think of it," she says. "I thought more about the swimming and getting a good result than thinking about the bullying and what's happened. I didn't want to think about it at such an important time."

There she set two new world records for her Paralympic class, S6, which includes swimmers of short stature, in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

Then Tiffany easily qualified for the team at the Paralympic trials in Adelaide in April – as her mother says, "she won every race so we definitely knew we were going". She will compete in her favoured races as well as several other events in Rio.

She has advice for kids who might be experiencing bullying.

"I say this to everyone. Don't keep it a secret, and tell whoever you can. Get help, really. Because when I had bullying I kind of kept it a secret for a bit. I just realised you have to tell people to get it over and done with. There's always people by your side."

On Friday afternoon, Ravenswood students gave a "guard of honour" to send Tiffany, the school's first ever Olympian or Paralympian, off to Rio. She leaves with the team on Monday for two weeks' acclimatisation in Alabama, then on to the Games.

Her coach Lachlan Falvey says "Tiff is a phenomenal competitor, she just loves racing people and that's something you can't really teach. She's got that killer instinct. I'm hoping when she gets up on that block in Rio, that fire is in the belly and it translates into great swimming."

The early signs are that Tiffany has the mental discipline and competitive spirit to thrive under the pressure of a big meet.

"It's being in the racing environment," she says of her favourite thing about swimming. "[I love] being in the warm-up pool, training, then into the race, going up and down the pool and trying to see who you're in front of. Trying to beat people."

The competition?

"Yeah, that's my favourite part."