A YOUNG Ballarat triathlete has returned home after undertaking his first overseas competition.<\/p>\n
Touching back down in Australia earlier this week, Oscar Wootton spent about two weeks in Trinidad and Tobago, competing in two days of events in the Commonwealth Youth Games.<\/p>\n
There, Wootton served as Australia\u2019s flag bearer alongside Sydney netballer Monika \u2018Otai during the Games\u2019 opening ceremony at Hasely Crawford Stadium.<\/p>\n
He said it was the highlight of the trip for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was honouring to represent Australia and all the athletes that were there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an amazing experience to have us there as one nation as we walked out. It was pretty special and something you don\u2019t do every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the biggest highlight for me. It was huge to hear our country called on the loudspeaker with all the people cheering in a big stadium. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be matched for me anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the Games\u2019 launch, Wootton placed fifth in his individual race and fourth in the mixed relay event where he competed in tandem with Queensland\u2019s Aspen Anderson.<\/p>\n
Wootton said there were many new challenges for him to tackle during competing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the extreme heat and humidity, it brought a whole new race plan and ideas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe heat got to me in the end but I managed to get across the line which is the most important part. I\u2019m over the moon to get fifth in my solo.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the racing circuit over there, there were wild goats, wild dogs, wild chickens over the course, so being in that environment was pretty cool. I just had to laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the conditions it was more to the sprint distance which suits me a lot better. I wish I\u2019d done a bit more cooling at the start but those are things I\u2019ve learned now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Settling back into training with one session a day, Wootton next aims to take part in Melbourne competitions in November leading into national races in the summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A YOUNG Ballarat triathlete has returned home after undertaking his first overseas competition. Touching back down in Australia earlier this week, Oscar Wootton spent about two weeks in Trinidad and Tobago, competing in two days of events in the Commonwealth Youth Games. There, Wootton served as Australia\u2019s flag bearer alongside Sydney netballer Monika \u2018Otai during […]<\/p>\n