Proud local Dad Robbie Ferrito wanted to share photos he took of his son Rhys Ferrito (on top of podium in center), a rising sophomore at Sage Ridge and a local teen who at just 14 recently qualified for two world championship races next year.
Rhys has been practicing the three sports of triathlon (swim - bike - run) since he was 10.
He has been racing the Youth Triathlon non-draft (which means you must maintain a minimum distance from the bike rider ahead) Nationals since 2021, and finished third in the nation in 2022 in that competition.
He then won his first national title in 2023 in Milwaukee in that race and then again in 2024 in Des Moines.
For the first time he raced at the adult U.S. Nationals earlier this month in Omaha, Nebraska, finishing 26th overall in the super-sprint race (200 meter swim, 5 kilometer ride, 1 kilometer run) while winning the 15-19 age group.
In a separate race, the aquathlon, which is a 1k swim and 5k run, Rhys finished seventh overall, qualifying for the U.S. team for a world championship 2026 competition in the United Arab Emirates and also won the 15-19 age group.
In a third race, the Sprint Triathlon, which is a 750 meter swim, 20k bike race and 5k run, he finished 28th with the adults and fourth in the 15-19 age group, which qualified him for another US national team for a 2026 competition in Pontevedra in Spain.
“Thing is, Rhys is not 15 yet, he's still 14, he was allowed to race because of the age-up rule in triathlon,” his Dad explained to us in a message today.
“I am his Dad and also his coach, or one of his coaches I should say. I knew, given the great results of the last few years, that he had a chance to qualify for Worlds, sooner or later, but I didn't expect that until he was 17 or 18. So it is truly amazing that he achieved that at his first attempt, and he is not even 15. It goes without saying really, we, Mom and Dad couldn't be more proud,” Robbie Ferrito concluded in his message to Our Town Reno.