Bothwell's Nick Wammes is ready to take a rest after competing at the World Junior Track Cycling Championships in Aigle, Switzerland.
The 16-year-old cyclist says he didn't need to come away with any medals to enjoy the experience.
"I was really happy -- I had personal best times all around," says Wammes. "I wasn't able to qualify in the sprint tournament, which was a little disappointing, but I learned a lot of new things, which I think was the most important part... just getting the experience under my belt and having fun honestly."
Nick Wammes competes at the world junior track cycling championships in Aigle, Switzerland. July 2016. (Photo courtesy of Nick Wammes)
Wammes competed in three different events at the world championships.
His first event was the Keiran where he placed fifth in his heat and fifth in the first-round repechage heat and failed to qualify for the quarterfinals.
His second event was the one-kilometre time trial. During this race, he placed 29th out of 38 competitors with a time of 1:06.856. His Canadian teammate Stefan Ritter took first place with a time of 1:01.673.
Wammes' final event was the 200m sprint tournament where he finished 29th out of 38 competitors in the opening round with a time of 10.831 seconds -- again failing to qualify for the next round.
Despite not making it to the podium in his first trip to the world championships, Wammes remains positive about his future in the sport.
"My coach and I talked about it after and we focussed more on the times," says Wammes. "Looking at the times compared to where I was three months ago and where I was at nationals -- I hit personal best times all-around and I think that's more than I can ask."
The Bothwell teen also had a lot of good things to say about the experience of travelling to Switzerland and how beautiful the country was.
"I was very fortunate to be there," says Wammes. "I don't think I could have had a more beautiful part of the world to have the competition in."
Once he has taken some time to rest up, Wammes says he'll get back to training again. He already has his sights set on returning to the world championships in 2017.
