By Hayley Wildes
Pakenham-local Cameron De Bruin is fast. But up until this year, he just didn’t quite realise just how fast he really was.
That all changed when he competed at his first Australian Junior Athletics Championships earlier this year. Competing against the best under-18 runners in the country, Cameron more than held his own and came fourth in the 200-metre final.
It was an incredible achievement for a sprinter in his first national event.
“It was literally the best experience of my life going up to Sydney,” Cameron said.
“It was my first national competition, so do to what I did; it was shocking to me because I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
The Year 11 Beaconhills student was officially recognised for his efforts by being awarded the Pierre De Coubertin sporting award recently. The prestigious Pierre De Coubertin Award recognises secondary school students who are active sports participants and display the Olympic ideals of fair play and sportsmanship.
The ceremony – held at the MCG in June – celebrated the award recipients and Cameron took plenty of inspiration away from the event.
“Olympic swimmer Mack Horton spoke to the group and he was actually really inspirational talking about his journey and what he’s been through,” he said.
It wasn’t just his athletic achievements that helped him earn the honour either – Cameron is also a talented footballer and helped his Beaconhills school team claim the South Eastern Independent Schools Association (SEISA) premiership this year.
Whilst he still plays football – for his school and the Pakenham Lions – Cameron admitted athletics, which he has been participating in since he was five years old, is at the forefront of his mind now.
“My main focus used to be football, but then I had a really good athletics season last year and it kind of turned my attention back onto athletics. Athletics is my main focus at the moment,” he said.
Cameron competes in both the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint, with the longer distance being his preferred event.
His record times prove how quick he truly is; 10.88 seconds for the 100-metre and 22.15 seconds for the 200-metre event.
Athletics came natural to Cameron; his older brother Matthew (a footballer for Kooweerup) is a world-class runner and competed in the 2014 World Junior Championships.
“I’d have to say my brother is someone I look up to,” he said.
“He’s a really big inspiration for my athletics with what he has been able to achieve. The more he got into athletics, the more I got into athletics.”
Cameron credits the healthy competition between the pair as having helped drive him to new heights.
“It provides more competition and there’s definitely that competitiveness against each other,” he said.
“Obviously we’re brothers and he’s always been the more developed, stronger and faster brother, but now I’m starting to get up there and we’re getting closer to each other – it just makes it so much better.”
With incredible speed and determination, Cameron De Bruin seems destined for greatness and he has his sights set on a major meet in the coming years.
“I’ve set a goal for the 2020 World Junior Championships and that’s pretty much my next major goal after nationals.”
