Storey competed at the recent International Triathlon Union Cross Triathlon World Championships at the Snowy Mountains in the 30-34 male class and finished second.

He completed the course in a time of 2:39.52 to finish second to fellow Australian George Tamblyn (2:38.53).

The challenging course included a 1500m swim (0:23.21) in Lake Crackenback; 30km mountainbike leg (1:24.33) and 10km trail run (0:49.54).

Making Storey’s effort to finish second on the world championship stage all the more impressive is the fact he only started specialising in triathlon a year ago.

“I’m stoked with the result. I’ve got a background in endurance and bike racing, but only been focused on the triathlon for a year,” Storey said.

“It obviously would have been great to have won it because everyone is always aiming for the top spot, but my overall goal is to get into racing in the elite competition.”

And that goal of reaching the elite level has this week been achieved with Storey gaining his professional triathlon licence.

“I’ve been working away for the past year at trying to obtain a professional licence… that has been my main goal, so it’s fantastic the hard work has paid off,” Storey said.

Storey’s first race in elite level competition will be next March’s Australian Cross Triathlon Championships, which will also be held at the Snowy Mountains.

Storey, 34, is trained by David Meade and Jarrod Draper as part of the PreComp Tri Team in Bendigo.

Away from competition, Storey is a lecturer in exercise science and education at La Trobe University.