The Orange Cycle and Triathlon Club received a significant boost in the Central West Interclub Triathlon Series standings on Sunday as Rory Thornhill and Lauren Kerwick took out the final Sprint leg at Dubbo.
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The results from the event are yet to be finalised, but Dubbo Triathlon Club president Jason Dearmer said early indications suggest Orange's has clinched the title.
They led Bathurst by just two points going into the event.
Thornhill - who represents NSW at elite level - was "buggered" after the state championships in Sydney late last week, but it didn't prevent him from completing a series clean sweep, taking the maximum four points in all five Sprint distance events.
You love pushing yourself with everyone else that wants to push themselves as well.
- Lauren Kerwick
"I was just trying to get through it!" he said after cheering Bathurst's Mark Windsor (second) and Mudgee's Gareth Fuller (third) over the line.
Thornhill complete the course in 52 minutes and 21 seconds (7:33 swim, 29:17 ride, 15:30 run), while Windsor took 53:49 and Fuller finished in 54:19.
"It's nice," he added about the Dubbo course, and the Macquarie River swim leg.
"[I've swum in the river] once before and that was when there was a really strong flow, so it was nice to have an easier one.
"You're in the shade the whole time and it [run leg] is undulating as well which just breaks it up and frees your mind a bit."
Kerwick confessed to being "kind of scared swimming in the river" on Sunday, and the fear obviously worked in her favour.
The 19-year-old was the first person out of the water, completing the swim leg in 7:21.
The Australian champion finished with an overall time of 56:21 for her fourth win of the season.
RUNNING FESTIVAL COVERAGE:
"The course here in Dubbo is really quite hard because it's quite a time trial course and I don't really have a time trial bike, so I find I really struggle to get my speed up," she said.
"But it's good. I like the little hill at the end of the bike course. It really tests you."
Kerwick would love to become a Super League triathlete, and also dreams of one day going to the Olympics "even though that's really hard".
"But I like to dream big!" she said.
"I love pushing yourself to the limits, I love racing all your friends, training with your friends and I just feel so happy doing it.
[I've swum in the river] once before and that was when there was a really strong flow, so it was nice to have an easier one.
- Rory Thornhill
"Everyone is just so supportive and I guess that's why you love doing it. You love pushing yourself with everyone else that wants to push themselves as well."
Thornhill, 16, only took up the sport a "couple of years ago", calling it a "natural path" for a young boy that already swam and ran.
He thanked his coach Jeremy Wallace, and urged others to take up the sport.
"It's so fun racing, going from swim to ride to run, the training … it's such variety and it's a great group of people," he said.
"We're out here in Dubbo and we've got people travelling from Bathurst, Mudgee, all around the Central West just for a local interclub race.
"You talk to the older guys, you talk to the younger guys and you really do feel like a community.
"Come out to a local race and have a go - even if you're on a mountain bike. It's just so much fun."
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