At just 16 years of age, Dylan Smith is one of UAE’s most promising young triathletes. Having started his journey four years ago this month, there really has been no looking back for Smith.
Introducing himself, Dylan said: "I am a junior triathlete who has been racing since I was 12 years old. To start with I competed in a local duathlon series using a bike borrowed from my dad. I have been hooked ever since. In 2015 I entered the junior race at Challenge Roth. It was her that I realised while I was very strong on the bike, my swim and run needed to improve. At Roth I decided that I wanted to be able to compete at the highlight level and set my sites on becoming a professional triathlete one day."
Despite triathlons being his specialism, Dylan remains active across a number of individual disciplines. He commented: "I also represent my school Dubai English Speaking College at 800m, 1600m, 3km cross country and I am on the aquathlon team."
Dylan isn't short of ambition. When asked about his sporting goals he said: "I want to place in the top five for my age group at Eton Dorney Springs World Championship Qualifier this year. Looking into the future, my long term goal is to represent my country and turn professional."
The first honour of Dylan's career came in 2015, when he took home gold at the ITU Abu Dhabi contest, both as part of a team and individually. His success story continued to unfold. He traveled to Stockholm, Sweden in August 2017 and came out on top. And in February 2018 he added top spot at TriYas in Abu Dhabi to his honours list. As recently as March of this year, he was victorious at U19 level at ITU Abu Dhabi. His time was so impressive that he also finished second in the overall competition. He was also voted 'Fittest Teen' at the U16 age group of the Teen Fitness Awards in both 2016 and 2017.
When he's not competing, Dylan likes to help others. He said: "I coached one of my school friends for the 2018 Standard Chartered 10km run. He set a personal target and I helped with the planning and his training sessions. In my summer holidays I assist with the summer camp at my local sports complex. This year I completed my ASCA level one certificate so I can help the swim coaching team."
GYS wishes Dylan good luck for his future endeavours and we look forward to following his progress.