“I genuinely couldn’t even swim when I was 12 and I was throwing up in my first triathlon” - Commonwealth Games athlete and European Cup winner Cameron Main’s journey can inspire young people to enjoy sport and strive to improve themselves
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Any sporting youngster in Moray who doubts their ability to reach elite level should listen to the story of European Triathlon Cup winner Cameron Main.
The former Elgin Academy pupil, now 24, recently won his first major international event in his sport, which combines open water swimming, cycling and running.
He’s competed for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and has ambitions to represent Team GB at future Olympics if he continues to achieve strong results in top level events.
Not in his wildest dreams could he have imagined rubbing shoulders with triathlon’s very best when he first took up the sport at the age of 12 and took part in his first competition.
“I was really bad,” he happily admits. “A lot of people think I must have been swimming since the age of five, but genuinely couldn’t even swim when I was 12.
“My first triathlon was in East Fife and I think I was second last. I was throwing up on the bike and I was really struggling.
“My dad was doing that race as well in 2012. I had just quit taekwon-do after getting my black belt, and he said ‘why don’t you give triathlon a go if you still want to do sport and do something different’.
“I thought ‘why not’ but I really was bad. I was trying to do breaststroke and I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t great at cycling and I was on a mountain bike. I suppose I was OK at running, that was one thing I had going for me.
“But I remember crossing the line thinking ‘that was different, that was fun’ and I was really bad at it so I wanted to get better. I thrive on trying to improve at something I am maybe not so good at and learning how to be better.”
Those words could well inspire young people in Cameron’s Moray homeland to get active in sport, and perhaps one or two could reach the highest level.
Now based in Loughborough along with Britain’s top triathletes, Cameron returns to Moray when he can and was overwhelmed by the reaction from his home area to this month’s sensational European Cup victory in Melilla, Spain.
“Everyone else back home in Elgin, they were sending me messages and were so pleased for me,” he said.
“It shows that Elgin is not a massive place and facilities are not world class there. But if you stay focused and work hard at school, get into university as well in a sports group outside of Elgin, you can pretty much achieve anything.
His girlfriend Sophia Green, another former Elgin Academy pupil, came from a strong swimming background and took up triathlon with the same level of success. A regular top performer on the elite women’s scene, she finished fifth in the same European Cup event which Cameron won, and has attended the last two Commonwealth Games.
Cameron admitted his path to top level success has taken a great deal of dedication and money.
He does not receive financial backing from the British Triathlon governing body, and relied on support from Scottish funding bodies to help pay for him to compete in top competitions.
But he is grateful that his sport has presented him with so many opportunities across the globe and some fantastic memories.
“Since 2012 when I did that first triathlon, I got on to the academy squad for Triathlon Scotland at the age of 14 and since then I have progressed through the squads, started racing national and international races.
“It was 2021 when I got my first championship cap or vest for GB at the European and World Championships.
“I have been to Edmonton in Canada for the world championships and Australia for training with a group over there and a few races.
“I have been to Singapore and last year was my first time in Asia, in Japan and South Korea , both incredible places. Triathlon has taken me basically everywhere across the world.
“The sport is amazing and I absolutely love it. It is unique in how hard we have to work to get those results.
“It is a difficult sport from a financial point of view. It is very expensive and there’s only so much that our federation can do to support everyone.
“It’s a challenge but it makes it even better when you get a result like I did at the weekend. I put a lot of my own time, money and effort to get that result so it makes it even better when you cross the line first.
“When I won the race and spoke to my mum (Tammy) on Facetime, she just said it was amazing to see all the hard work I’ve put into my whole life of triathlon and the amount of money and effort it takes and to get on the top step, it just makes everything worth it and shows that you can get what you want if you really, really work for it.
“My dad (Russell) has poured so much money, time and effort into my career so again he was just buzzing for me.”
Cameron has also had to overcome the obstacle of serious injury to regain a competitive standing in triathlon.
Stress fractures in both legs forced him to effectively press the reset button on his career.
“It was around the Commonwealth Games when I got two stress responses in my shins. Both shin bones essentially were fractured because they had been under so much load.
“It can happen because of too much training and also a lack of nutrition. The bones get so weak that essentially they snap.
“It took me two or three months to get over that and by that point my season was over. Thankfully I managed to race the Commie Games but it meant my season was finished so I lost a lot of world ranking points and criteria to race internationally.
“You have to hit certain standards to race and I didn’t hit those for 2023 so when I started last year I almost had to restart at the bottom of national racing, work my way up to European Cups and then I got a really good result at World Cup so it was a long year of progressing through the stages.
“This year because I’ve set myself up well, I’ve managed to go straight into a European Cup and to get that win in my first race has just set everything up so well for the next 12 months really well.
“Where I came from in 2022, it was really frustrating and it can almost make you think ‘is this worth it, am I way below where I thought I would be in my career?’
“But it just shows if you keep your head switched on and stay focused and still enjoy the sport you can get a lot out of it and it's nice to see everything has paid off.
“It’s not been the easiest two years but it’s been worth it now, for sure.”
