Josh, along with his dad Mick, made the trip to what is one of the most popular events on the NSW triathlon calendar and after getting a taste of the longer competition, he wants more.

Andrew Burke and Blair Watson also competed from Bathurst.

“It was my first time at that distance. At 15 I was the youngest in the race by a bit over a year and I managed to finish sixth in the under 19s,” Josh said.

“I was really happy with that. It was the longest distance I’ve raced by a fair way. It wasn’t too hilly down there or too warm. It was a good course, which always helps.”

The race, staged at the International Regatta centre, featured a one kilometre swim, 30km bike ride and 10km run.

Josh’s dad Mick, meanwhile, competed in the 40-44 years group and managed to finish 92nd for his category, finishing in just over two hours 45 minutes.

Josh’s time was 1.54.13.

“Overall, I was pretty happy with my race. I had a tough start and I got smashed initially and took on a heap of water and basically thought my day was done,” Mick Stapley said.

“I waited for the next ‘wave’ of competitors and swam with them, so my swim time probably looks a bit worse than it was.

“Myself and the other Bathurst guys Blair Watson [40-44 years, same time as Stapley] and Andrew Burke 45-49 years, 2.21.12] all crossed the line at the same time, which was nice. It wasn’t something we could have worked out beforehand, it just worked out that way.”

On Saturday Josh also competed in the first round of the NSW junior state series in a shorter distance event for 14 years-plus athletes.

After a decent swim and good transition he was well-placed for a high finish but encountered trouble when his bike was bumped coming out of the first transition, leaving his back brake rubbing on his rear wheel as he rode the 10km leg.

“I was 20th overall in that race, which I was reasonably happy with given what had happened,” Josh said.

The talented youngster will compete in roughly one race a month in the series over the rest of the summer.

He was positive the bigger distance on Sunday suited him better than the shorter races and he is keen to get involved in another of the same length.

“I loved that distance. I prefer the longer races to the short ones and they definitely suit me more,” he said.

“There is a race in Orange in February that I will probably look at and I certainly want to do Nepean again next year. I pulled up well and only took a couple of days to recover.

“The swim and the bike legs are my strongest. I’ve struggled on the run in the past but I’ve done a lot of work on it and I’m starting to get more consistent at producing four minute kilometres, which is a big leap from what I was doing.”