Porter ready for national triathlon

Ethan Porter, a junior at Boulder City High School, will compete in the 2019 USA Triathlon Junior National Championship on Saturday in West Chester, Ohio.

With a year of experience in the junior circuit under his belt, Porter said he is now ready to crack the nation’s top 25, establishing himself as one of the best competitors in his age bracket.

“I’m very excited for this year’s race,” he said. “I’ve gotten stronger over the past year and more mentally wise on the courses. I’m hoping to finish in the top 25 and set a personal best on the course.”

“I’m definitely starting to get more comfortable out there,” Porter said. “I’ve been racing with older guys for a year now and I’ve learned how they race and where they place themselves. So I feel like now I can go in with a little bit of strategy and know where I want to place myself.”

Qualifying for the junior nationals, Porter competed in the Monroe Triathlon, a qualifiers-only event, on June 29 in Monroe, Washington, placing 38th out of 50 challengers with a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes, 12 seconds.

“That was a good race,” Porter said. “I actually got a personal best in that race. The only thing that I was uncomfortable with during that race was a very physical swim, but I feel like that’s going to help me for nationals and it prepared me for another physical swim. Going through that will help me work smarter when I’m in the pack.”

At the same event last year, Porter finished in 1:03:03, proving that he’s gotten faster and stronger throughout the past year.

Preparing for the strenuous course at nationals, Porter also competed in the Flatlands triathlon in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 14 in a hot and humid climate, an experience Porter feels has helped him game-play better for Ohio.

“I feel like I’m going to have more strategy when I’m on the course,” Porter said. “I’ll be able to maneuver around the other athletes better in the pack. That was the main goal of this race. Once we got to the race venue, it was super hot and humid and I was trying to push myself to see what my limits were because I’m going to face similar weather conditions at nationals.”

Competing in a 750-meter swim course at nationals, athletes will later work their way through a 12-mile bike ride and 3-mile run to the finish line.

Confident in all three areas of the triathlon, Porter said he knows he’ll be able to make up time in the bike portion of the event.

“I’m really confident heading into the bike race and feel that will be my best event. I’ve been working a lot on my bike. We upgraded it to be more aerodynamic and lighter and it now fits me better because my old one was too small.”

Porter finished 39th out of 70 competitors at the 2018 USA Triathlon Junior National Championship.

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.