VINCENTIA'S Troy Whittington, since competition resumed in October, has well and truly been making up for the lost time caused by COVID-19.
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His first two events, a duathlon and super sprint triathlon saw Whittington finish just off the podium in the opening two rounds of the Billigence pathway championships.
He followed this up with an impressive time of 8:29 in the 3000 metres at the recent Athletics NSW state championships.
These all prepared the 21-year-old for last Saturday's Triathlon NSW super sprint individual state championships in Orange - which also acted as round three of the Billigence series.
"Going into the day's competition [in Orange], my focus was using as little energy throughout the day and really put a huge effort in the final later Saturday evening," Whittington, who trained and competed in Europe during the 2019 season, said.
"The day consisted of two aquathon heats in the morning (150m swim and 500m run) and after lunch, two super sprint triathlon heats (150 swim, 3km ride and 500m run).
"As such, keeping on top of hydration and nutrition was a key component to making sure I was fuelled and replenishing fluids between races, as the temperatures were in the high 30s."
The Jervis Bay Triathlon Club athlete, after cruising through the earlier races, prepared himself for the final, which consisted of a 400m swim, 6km ride and 1.5km run.
"The strategy for the final was having a fast swim and exiting the water with the first few guys," he said.
"This would limit the amount of work I'd need to do on the bike and really use my run to my advantage with a finish strong."
The Vincentia High School alumnus' plan worked a treat, as he was one of the first out of the water in the under 23 men's event - which set up his race and saw him cross the line in first, in a time of 20:34, ahead of Luke Schofield and James Olsen-Keating.
"My run definitely secured the race on Saturday," he said.
"I was aggressive on the bike and run.
"The technical course really suited me on the run and I used the corners to my advantage in gapping my competitors locking in the win.
"My head was all over the place when I crossed the line.
"I was just really happy to see my training impact my racing potential, which I haven't been able to translate on a consistent basis in the past."
Whittington hopes to use this victory as a springboard to more strong results over the summer, including the next Billigence series event in Sydney (Richie Walker Aquathon), and into February's Huskisson's 70.3 triathlon, which will be his long course debut.
"Saturday's win is a huge confidence boost for me," he said.
"I just need to keep this consistency in training and the same mindset in racing in 2021 and I'll achieve breakthrough results that will help take the next step in my journey."
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