Dubbo’s Clinton Larkings is now one step closer to the WorldSkills international finals in Russia in 2020.
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The TAFE NSW fitting and turning student won gold in the Turning category at the WorldSkills national finals competition in Sydney.
Now his fingers are tightly crossed he will be picked to represent the country on the ustralian Skillaroos team overseas in two years time.
The national finals were held at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour, and Mr Larkins said it was a fantastic event to take part in.
“It’s an amazing feeling being down there. The whole vibe of the competition and being there with all the tradies in one spot was just great.”
Mr Larkings said during the competition he worked on a metal lathe to make five separate parts of a project all within a time limit.
At the end, each of the parts fitted together and while to some the final piece would look like a paper-weight, there were many different technical aspects that went into the creation of the piece.
“It really meant a lot of me and a lot to everyone who helped me along the way. To my parents and to my employer Luke Cross Engineering and Rigging as well.
“It’s a reward for them as well as me,” he said.
“It’s pretty unreal, the whole thing with everyone there and the cheers of the crowd.”
He said he didn’t have an exact date to find out if he had been accepted into the national team, but he expected to know ‘in the coming weeks.’
Mr Larkings is one of eight students from the Central West to tackle the “country’s largest vocational education and excellence competition”.
The WorldSkills national competition was held in conjunction with the Skills Show Australia 2018 which provided visitors with an opportunity to discover future careers through interactive events, demonstrations and competitions.
The biennial WorldSkills national competition aims to find young apprentices, trainees, tradespeople and Vocational Education and Training (VET) graduates from around the country and test them over three days with set tasks, judging and time limits.
The competition brings out the best young people in the industry. During the 2018 competition NSW Tradies took home gold in 21 of the 50 categories.