Hennessy Catholic College student Cooper Dabin has won the gold medal in the 15 years hammer throw at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships with a monstrous throw of 64.71m.
The 15-year-old, who trains at home and in Canowindra with throw coach Ernie Shankleton, is set to defend his National gold medal in Brisbane later this year after taking out the event earlier this month.
Cooper's family have built his own throwing ring on their property for him to practice, with the then 14-year-old, throwing too far to be able to continue practicing at any of the local ovals.
"He's got a hammer ring at home now, down the paddock," Cooper's Mum, Sarah Dabin, said.
"I did train down at Gus Smith, but I didn't have enough room cause I was throwing so far," Cooper said.
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"So I had to go home into the paddock and make a ring."
Cooper got his start in hammer throw after taking a liking to discus.
"I started out in discus," Cooper said.
"My coach asked me if I wanted to have a go at hammer, so I had a go and I liked it heaps."
Cooper continued to compete in both discus and hammer, but ultimately decided that he wanted to pursue hammer.
"I dropped discus cause I liked hammer so much and so I decided to focus on it," he said.
Cooper's passion for the sport outweighs all other sports for the 15-year-old, who is also a very talented rugby league player in his own right, however, he has decided to hang up the footy boots in preference for throwing the hammer.
"It's so different to everything else," Cooper said.
"It's a lot of hard work and dedication to do it, it's just enjoyable.
"At the moment, over footy and everything, hammer takes priority over everything."
Cooper also has a dedicated training schedule that he adheres to which includes the gym, travelling to Canowindra for coaching three times a week, as well as practicing at home.
"I've started to ramp up all my training and just starting to get into it a lot, I just really have to focus on it (hammer throw)," Cooper said.
Following on from his success over the last twelve months in the sport, Cooper is setting his sights on going even further with an aim at competing on an international stage, all with the goal of competing at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
"Hoping for Brisbane," Cooper said.
Cooper said competing at the NSW All Schools Championships he was confident when he stepped into the ring.
"I was pretty confident, just cause I trust myself in what I do," Cooper said.
He said the last time that he'd been nervous was when he competed at the Nationals in Perth last year, where he said he was 'very' nervous, however, he ended up going out and performing to the top of the level.
Cooper and his fellow competitors in his age group get along really well, which makes it less daunting when the time comes to compete, knowing there are others around to cheer him on.
Cooper has spent the school holidays continuing with his training, and preparing to compete at the National All School Championships which will be held in Brisbane this December.
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