BMX rider Josh Cain is a name to remember for the future as the Marian College student continues to impress many in his chosen sport.
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Cain, who is part of the Warrnambool BMX Club, has only been BMX racing for about four years, but during that time he has competed in national and state championships and produced a number of performances that have caught the eye of selectors.
The 17-year-old said he has always enjoyed riding his BMX, but it wasn't until 2009 when he went and watched racing at a two-day event in Mount Gambier that sparked a passion for competition.
"I thought it looked fun, so we looked into joining a club and at the time Warrnambool was the closest track to Ararat," Cain said.
"There are many things I love about this sport. I love racing, there is nothing better than beating your best time, clearing a new jump and then competing.
"I also enjoy the social side, through BMX I have met lots of great people and made many friends from all over Victoria as well as interstate."
Cain didn't take long to find his feet in the sport. His first big achievement came in November 2012 where he finished third in the 16 boys 20" class and third in the 15/16 boys cruiser class at the Victorian State Titles, before then competing in the 2013 South Australian State titles in Mount Gambier coming second in the 17/18 year cruiser class.
Cain was all set for the 2013 National Titles in Queensland when disappointment struck in the form of a bad injury, which forced him to miss more than 10 months of competition.
"In March last year I fell off in Warrnambool during one of the rounds of the 2013 Pro Series, which resulted in an Avulsion fracture of the lateral Tibial spine, which means the ACL was ripped from the tibia with a large piece of bone," Cain said.
"This was complicated further with additional fractures to the tibia that had to be put back together.
"I had surgery to repair the damage and was in a full leg cast for eight weeks. I had physio as soon as the cast was removed, but after four weeks I still couldn't bend my knee more than 12 degrees and had to go back to surgery to have a manipulation done.
"After the manipulation, I had a lot more movement and could do more exercises to build my leg back up. It was a slow process taking about 12 months and I didn't get back racing until February this year."
Cain wasted little time making up for the months he lost through the injury and quickly returned to his best form.
He gain confidence as he progressed through the Victorian Pro Series a six event series held at different tracks across the state where he competed in the A Pro Men class.
"I missed round one as I was unsure if I was ready to return to racing, but competed in the remaining five rounds against 54 riders," he said.
"I finished eighth overall and made the Top Eight Shoot-Out, ending up fourth.
"Recently I competed in the 2014 National Championships held in Shepparton. I made the semi finals finishing 10th overall in the 17-24 age class which means that I qualified to compete in the World Championships being held in the Netherlands.
"But I decided not to compete as I have only been back training and racing since late February and didn't feel I was up to racing at world standards."
Cain said his coach from Warrnambool, Luke Pretlove has set him a training program for upcoming competitions at the end of the year.
"I have a few jumps and stuff in my backyard, but I do my sprint training in Ararat at various places such as One Tree Hill and Aradale," he said.
"I also travel to the new track in Ballarat and Warrnambool as much as possible to get valuable track time.
"I am having a small break from training at the moment, but will start training again in a couple of weeks for the Victorian State Titles that will be held in November at Knoxfield, Melbourne.
"Then my focus will be on the 2015 National Championships being held in Queensland in May."