Coach Stuart Durham, along with talented competitors Matt Smith and Kurt Wesley returned to WA proud of the club’s overall exceptional results, with one athlete claiming a world title.
Matt Smith became world champion when he won the race in his age group of 16-19 and said the feeling was only just starting to settle in.
“The first few hours after the race I just had no idea what to think; there were hundreds of messages coming through congratulating me and everything was happening a million miles per hour,” he said.
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Smith reflected on the gruelling training required.
“Kurt and I would be pumping out close to 250km on the bike with around 80km running in some weeks,” he said.
“A lot of sacrifices have to be made to be an elite athlete, and there’s the constant tired feeling that follows you around but it all becomes worth it when you win a world championship.”
The competitive race saw Smith complete a challenging 5km run, 20km cycle, finished with a 2.5km run in a time of just 56.56 minutes.
“The final run I was just trying to think about all the training I had done and making sure I finished with nothing left in the tank,” he said.
“At one point I was in that much pain I thought I was going to pass out, but I knew I had to keep pushing in the last two and a half kilometre run.”