Spikes are traded for steel caps, and he sets for work.

The days change but everything else largely remains the same. There's earth to be moved, wheelbarrows to be pushed.

It's taxing work, but it needs to be done.

After eight hours in the sun, everything changes. The self-proclaimed "humble landscaper" leaves site and heads for the athletics centre.

The tradie turns into the elite high jumper only 0.08 metres away from the Commonwealth Games.

Last Saturday, on an otherwise featureless day at Llanberris Athletics Reserve, Yual Reath cleared 2.25 metres, breaking the Ballarat Regional Athletics Centre record he'd set earlier in the year and becoming only the fourth Australian to clear the height this year.

It was a jump that could change his life.

"It actually all feels so unbelievable, from jumping from fun to trying to make a career out of it," Reath told The Courier.

"I still don't know how it happened. I came down (to Ballarat YCW) for fun, and then Paul saw me. Now here I am."

WATCH YUAL'S RECORD-BREAKING JUMP

Reath speaks of Paul Cleary - a former national long jumper and longtime Ballarat athletics coach.

"I watched him jump a few times at athletics here on a Saturday when he was doing it mucking around with his mates," Cleary said.

"He would have been 15-years-old, and I just went 'holy crap, this kid's got an amazing set of springs."

The raw talent was there, but that was only half the battle.

"I tried to coach him for about four years between 16 and 20, and I just couldn't get him to take it seriously," Cleary remembered.

"He wasn't consistent. You would see him a couple times a week for three-or-four weeks, and then you wouldn't see him for three months after that.

"He was lazy. He'd get home from school and sit on his backside on the couch every day.

"I think when he started going to 2.10m he realised he had a bit of talent. Then when he jumped 2.20m it cemented in his head that he belonged there."

Still 21, Reath is in the infancy of his high jumping career.

After graduating from Ballarat Christian College he began a landscaping apprenticeship and continues to turn up to site every morning.

Full-time employment means Reath only trains one-or-two times a week. Saturday's record-breaking effort was his first competitive jump since the start of the year.

"I reckon there's no one in the world that can jump 2.25m that does the amount of training Yual does," Cleary said.

"All the other guys that are jumping that height are usually full-time athletes who train five, six days a week.

"We have to do things differently. But he's strong, hard, and healthy because of the work he does.

"When he left school, I was happy he got a job as a landscaper. He was going to be naturally fit."

Clearing 2.25 metres qualifies Reath for Athletics Australia financial support to compete domestically and internationally.

The part-time athlete from the suburbs of Ballarat will soon be competing on the world stage.

However, exactly what comes next is still up in the air.

Reath is keen for the Commonwealth Games next year. He needs to clear 2.33 to qualify or earn points by competing in World Athletics events.

It's no sure thing, but the challenge is half the fun.

"I love this. Especially the chase," Reath said.

"I've always got somebody who I'm trying to be better than.

"I've only got eight centimetres to go. I just want to jump the qualifying height."

Cleary believes his athlete could aim even higher.

The coach has his eyes on the World Athletics Championships, running a month before the Games in Birmingham, where Reath can truly test himself.

"We're stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he makes the 2.33 do you go to the Commonwealth Games, or do you go to the world championships and jump against the real big boys," Cleary said.

"I just hope that when he starts to travel and compete that all the knobs won't get in his ear.

"I told him that there'll be coaches trying to drag you away because they say you can't be an international high jumper training in Ballarat.

The excitement around Reath has seeped into his club. Everyone stops when he's at the top of his mark.

There's an aura that follows him around the track until it's punctured by a youthful voice offering support and advice.

The voice belongs to Max - better known to all as Reath's manager.

The eight-year-old sticks by the jumper's side, always to be seen at training and meets.

So close is the pair's relationship, Reath jokes about finding Max a suit for their trip across the world next year.

Max, an aspiring middle-distance runner in his own right, is certain of his client's ability.

"He's really good. I would say solidly he could jump over 2.30 if he trained Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and just did high jump all that time," Max offered.

While the immediate future may be unclear, what's for sure is that it is just the start.

"I don't say this about a lot of people, but I reckon he could win an Olympic gold medal," Cleary said.

"I've been around the sport at the highest level since I was 16. I was a national triple jump champion and represented Australia eight times myself as an athlete.

"I've seen the best of the best. I've competed against Carl Lewis and a couple of other guys that have held world records and (I say that) after seeing all of them.

"(Mutaz Essa) Barshim - who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics - they're very comparable athletically. He's got as good as springs as Barshim, and Barshim's jumped 2.42.

"I think when he gets in with the big boy and gets four or five shots at them, it'd be really dangerous.

"I think he's up there with the best of them."

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