HUDSON Barry has proven to be one of the best young triathletes in the world.

The Coffs Harbour triathlete finished eighth in his 16-19 years age group while representing Australia at the Junior World Age Group Championships in Montreal, Canada.

The seventeen-year-old finished 42nd out of 1147 competitors and was the first Australian to cross the line in a time of 1hr 04:26.

Barry took great form into the Junior World Championships after finishing second overall at this year’s Byron Bay Triathlon, and having been crowned the Triathlon NSW State champion 16-17 years for 2021/22.

Proud father James gave an insight into his son’s performance in Montreal.

“The water quality of Montreal was in question, and the swim leg was cancelled for other divisions.

“It was a nervous wait for all athletes to see whether they would be switching to a duathlon,” he said.

“Fortunately, the rain held off and the water quality improved, with the all clear for a swim only given late in the afternoon before the race.

“He did well to dive in and get around the 750m swim course in 9:44 positioning himself in fourth heading into a technical 20km bike course, he rode safely around in 30:38 avoiding several crashes, then headed for home covering the 5km in 19:02.

“His persistence and dedication to training over the past months led to personal best times in both the swim and bike legs; however he was extremely disappointed with his run.”

James Barry said his son was looking forward to having an even better result at next year’s World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Germany.

“The impact of COVID over the last two years has restricted competition, which means Hudson is relatively new to the sport, however he is extremely passionate about triathlons, excited to see what he can achieve, and would love a podium finish at Germany next year.”

By Aiden BURGESS