It's already been a successful year for Inverell triathlete Emma McInnes, and she has capped it off with a strong performance at the Super Sprint Championship on the Gold Coast last week.
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Held from December 12 to December, the Super Sprint is a major race on the Australian Junior Triathlon Series, which involves triathletes between the ages of 16 to 19.
The 16-year-old McInnes competed as part of the NSW Emerging Talent Squad in a series of short triathlons.
"It was really good. It was super fun," McInnes said.
"It got really tiring towards the end but I learnt a lot and it was really good to race all the fast people."
There were five races over the course of the four days, with a sixth being rained out due to a large storm.
There were a series of different races including short triathlons and some that just involved one or two legs of the event.
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Each triathlete competes over the first three days before being placed in a graded final on the last day of the competition. McInnes was placed in the C final.
"In the C final, I was really happy because I finished sixth and my spot ranked overall 35th out of about 65 girls," she said.
"Overall I came 41st after all the days of the competition."
She was pleased with her end result, going up against some of the best young triathletes in the country.
"All the states get a side together and they all come and compete against each other. It's the best 16 to 19 (years) girls in Australia," she said.
It wasn't a perfect few days, as McInnes made a few mistakes along the way, including having to run a 1500m race without a shoe.
"Someone trod on my shoe when it first started," she said.
While she had to deal with a few hiccups, McInnes said it was all a very valuable learning experience.
"I've learnt from that (losing her shoe) to maybe start a bit wider.
"I also got one 10 second penalty because I moved my bike before I put my helmet on.
"I learnt to slow it down in transition and not focus on what anyone else is doing."
The Super Sprint caps off an impressive season for the young triathlete. She recently finished second at the Yamba Triathlon Festival and is also currently leading the Western Downs Tri Series after a second place at Toowoomba and a win at Texas in recent months.
"I was really happy with my last season. My results in it, it was my best season so far," McInnes said.
McInnes said she wants to put a real focus on her swimming now, as it's probably her weakest leg.
"If you get a good swim, you can come out of the water with the leaders, you can work together and be a bunch," she said.
"I got out towards the back of the swim side where I was trying to catch up."
For now, though, she'll be having a few weeks off before beginning her preparation for an event at South West Rocks as well as NSW All Schools in February.
