Smithvillian Joseph Trapp recently earned the rank of 15th place in the world for the United States team in the aquathlon.
The event’s world championships were held Sept. 7 in Beijing, China.
Trapp competed in the 30-34 year-old men’s division against competitors from around the globe.
Trapp came home with a spectacular finish despite sustaining an ankle injury during the race
“It was quite an experience.” Trapp told the Review. “I sprained my ankle before entering the swim portion on top of being jet-lagged, but I finished the race.”
Trapp competed against some of the top runners and swimmers in the world, and was invited to compete for the world title in New Zealand next year.
“It was like a dream getting to wake up and train with the best  athletes in the world,” he revealed. “Many of my competitors will participate in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England.
The trip was a learning experience for Trapp as well, as he forged relationships with some of the top athletes in the world.
“I learned a lot about race patterns and got personal advice from olympians Kane Radford of New Zealand and Australian Mellisa Gorman, who will both race in the summer Olympics next year, and were the overall male and female elite winners for 2011.
“I made personal friends with all the Olympians in the clinic,” Trapp said.
Trapp was also invited to race in the world title in New Zealand next year.
“A member of the LOC from New Zealand came up  to me and gave me a personal invitation to compete for Team USA in Auckland in October 2012 for the world title. I gladly accepted.”
Trapp also raced in the world premier RCP open water swim on Sept. 18.
The meet is listed as one of the 100 top world open-water swims, and it is considered by many to be the fastest and most competitive short-distance swim meet in the world.
Trapp finished 418th out of   650 competitors while competing against Olympic medalists, national and world champions, English Channel swimmers and FINAL world cup and FINAL Grand prix winners from over 20 countries including Russia, Australia,South Africa, Italy, Tunisia, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada.
“I placed 418th for the men’s elite  out of 650 swimmers with a time of 32:16,” Trapp shared. “The elite athletes were not allowed to wear wet suits, which made it more of a challenge for me.
“This year was a very fast race and everyone’s times were a four-minute range from each other, so the competition was tough at that event.”
He was invited to attend a gold medal clinic while in San Francisco hosted and coached by seven-time world marathon open-water swimming champion Shelley Taylor-Smith, who has been chosen to be a technical open water referee for open the water division at the summer Olympics in 2012. He recently began training for the event.
“I started an elite gold medal training program on Nov. 1,”  he said. “I will train all year for the world title competition in New Zealand in 2012.”
Trapp maintains that none of this would be possible without the support of his family and community, as well as his sponsors.
“I am thankful to have a supportive family and people from work who helped make this happen,” he said.
“I was sponsored by THK rhythm, Dynamic security, Buckner’s Chapel United Methodist Church, World Wide Merchandise Corporation, and Youth Racing Corp. I am very thankful  for all the support,” he concluded.