The 18-year-old will for the first time come up against an international field that includes young athletes from some of the strongest triathlon nations including the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and South Africa.

After some strong recent results — including victory in his category at the recent Nepean Triathlon — Sam gained his team spot with a fourth-placed finish in a gruelling selection series on the Gold Coast in December.

The festival’s opening ceremony is on tonight at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and Sam said he “can’t wait” to compete at the International Regatta Centre course on Friday.

“I imagine it will be (a tough field) but I’m just looking forward to . . . having a really good time.”

With such a large international contingent, Sam isn’t clear on what his own chances are.

“I'm a bit unsure because I haven’t raced at that level before so I’m just going in for the experience and to see where I’m at against some other people in the world that do triathlon.”

Being able to compete so close to home in Penrith can only help his cause.

“I suppose it will be a bit of a home course advantage,” he said. “Us Australians probably have a bit of an advantage as well with the (hot) weather.”

The race involves a 750m swim, 20km cycle and a 5km run to the finish line.

Having finished school last year, Sam has been able to greatly increase his training workload and the recent run of impressive results show it has paid off. This has included extended stays in Wollongong training full-time with the NSW Institute of Sport coach Jamie Turner.

“We’re training pretty much all day every day and there’s a really good coaching and squad environment down there,” Sam said.

Originally a keen swimmer, he made the leap to one of the world’s toughest sports when he was 13 after his coach, a triathlete herself, encouraged him to give it a try.

While the training can be extremely testing, Sam loves the opportunity to race and train with his friends as well as keeping healthy and fit.

“I enjoy the challenge of pushing my body,” he said.

Still a baby in the sport, he is keen to race overseas in the future with an ultimate goal of competing at the Olympic Games one day. The youngster can look to Beijing gold medallist Emma Snowsill who won the women’s event the last time triathlon was contested at the Australian Youth Olympics in 2001.

The festival will feature 1550 athletes from 27 countries competing in 17 sports from January 14-18.