A South Surrey man who, as a boy, spent a chunk of his school years sailing the world, has taken his education to a deeper level, competing for submarine honours in England.

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Jaryd Middleton, now 21, is a pilot on a 10-member University of Victoria team 鈥� the UVic Submarine Racing Club 鈥� at the (eISR) underway in Gosport.

The fourth-annual event 鈥� which wraps up tomorrow (Friday) 鈥� challenges students to 鈥渞ace their human-powered submarines against the clock around a demanding slalom course in a unique sporting and engineering challenge,鈥� according to the event website.

The students had to design and build a vessel that is neither watertight or pressurized, with room for just a pilot inside. They could be innovative, as long as the pilot was fully enclosed within the machine鈥檚 hull, and was the only source of propulsion power.

The UVic team dubbed their craft 鈥楥hinook.鈥� According to the club鈥檚 Instagram posts, it reached speeds of at least 4.4 knots.

Middleton, who studies mechanical engineering at UVic, was surprised by how comfortable he felt inside the sub.

鈥淚 thought it was going to be a little more claustrophobic than it is, but you鈥檝e got this really great little nose dome at the front that you can see out of,鈥� he told U.K. media.

His mom Marilyn described the opportunity as 鈥渁 pretty amazing thing.鈥�

She is confident the sailing the family embarked on 鈥� which took them as far as Malaysia when her son was 11 鈥� has contributed to his success so far. His background includes competitive swimming and water polo and more than nine years of scuba-diving experience. He鈥檚 also a lifeguard.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud of him,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he cruising that we did in those four years played a large role in the person he鈥檚 become.鈥�