That's what Sarah Harkin felt when she crossed the finishing line in her first triathlon eight months ago.

``I didn't feel too good,'' she said. ``But then I absolutely loved it.''

The 750-metre swim, 20kilometre ride and five-kilometre run was the starting point of the 16-year-old's triathlon career, which has received a sudden boost after she was awarded a Geelong High Performance Program scholarship.

The scholarship follows Sarah's selection in the Triathlon Victorian Development Squad two weeks ago.

``Both of them came as a surprise,'' the Warrnambool College student said.

The achievements are the biggest so far for Sarah, who took up the sport in November.

``I've always been a swimmer and decided to give a triathlon a go,'' she said.

Her first was the Gatorade series, where she finished third in the 15 to 19-year-old age group.

Since taking up triathlons, Sarah has trained under Jarrod Evans, who was impressed with Sarah's commitment after she continued to train with him in Geelong about twice a month despite moving back to Warrnambool following a boarding school stint.

The scholarship will offer financial assistance and see Sarah keep training in Geelong where she will receive a high level of coaching based on the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) training program.

``The reason she was selected in the program was because she has very good foundations,'' Evans said.

``She's doing very well, and I'd like to have more face-to-face contact with her, but she has good swimming coaches in Warrnambool, a lot of her running is done through correspondence and it's more about improving her bike skills than making her go for long rides. This is all about looking at her values and then adding to them.''

The squad, made up of nine, will give Sarah a spot in the National ITU Series towards the end of the year.

The youngster said she was looking forward to the program and the squad. ``They're both stepping stones into the national teams,'' she said.