When Seb Garry took to the water at the European Triathlon championships in Lisbon he could not have expected a more disrupted start to his race.

A frantic opening saw a near 150 competitors – some as old as 30 – jostle for position and the 17-year-old lose his goggles in the melee.

The Marlow athlete reacted with the same calm and confident demeanour which has informed his fledgling career since finishing fifth at the under-20 World Sprint Triathlon Championships last year.

“The swim started and in the triathlon it is completely manic, more of a fight than a swim, and in the panic I lost my goggles,” Garry explains.

“I was conscious I was behind, but then half way around the bike course I thought about it rationally and realised there was no point hanging around, I may as well give it everything.”

The reaction produced a first place finish and the standout result of Garry’s 10 months competing at under-20 level.

This level-headed approach belies Garry’s tender years and undoubtedly helped him as he juggled studying for his AS Levels and training for up to five hours a day.

It will be a trait which he relies on again over the next week as he travels to Leeds for the English Sprint Triathlon Championships, before taking part in his first ever Olympic standard distance race.

The Sir William Borlase Grammar School student understands Olympic standard racing will provide him with a fresh challenge but remains eager to impress.

“I am hoping to win in Leeds in what will be quite a good field and an interesting race. The GB guys will be there so it is bound to be a challenge,” Garry said.

“As it is my first Olympic standard race, I am just hoping to enjoy it but the competitiveness in me will always come out so I’ll possibly target a win as well.

“It is quite a low key event in the Peak District, so the bike course and run is really hilly. I couldn’t really have picked a more challenging first Olympic distance race.”

Inevitably, continued success in such events brings with it questions about the future for an athlete who appears to have both the ability and character to prosper.

A route to the Olympics may seem like the obvious end game, but Garry says he has various options to pursue further down the line.

The most prominent of which is the draw of the Iron Man World Championships in Hawaii which sees competitors race for over eight hours.

“Realistically I don’t see myself heading towards the Olympics because it is more focused on the swimming and bike sections rather than all three disciplines,” Garry explained.

“That is something which I am torn with at the moment. I am not sure if I want to go for the even longer distance like the Iron Man which they don’t have at the Olympics.

“That is my goal for the future but it would take a good five or six years to get to a position where I could be competitive.”