Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate a successful young athlete in my electorate of Bass, Alex Clements. Just 18 months ago 17-year-old Alex was a great tennis player. Alex made the decision to switch sports to cycling after attending a talent identification test at the Tasmanian Institute of Sport. Over the weekend Alex participated in the third leg of the 'National Road Series', which was the 'Tour of Toowoomba', and placed an impressive second place. This event is the highest level of racing in Australia, a particularly impressive effort from someone who is still relatively new to the sport. Alex also won the best young rider category—a fantastic effort.

Alex attends Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston—a great school in Launceston—and in a recent newspaper interview he made mention of fellow cyclist Richie Porte—who I might add was a good swimmer before he switched sports to cycling—and Wes Sulzberger and Matt Goss as his inspirations.

It is pleasing to see young athletes from Tasmania so competitive on a national scale and I encourage them all to continue to pursue their sporting interests and aspir­ations. I would again like to con­gratulate Alex on his achievements, a great effort for such a young athlete, and I encourage him to continue with his obvious dedication and commitment to the sport of cycling into the future.