The Nowra teenager has been rewarded for his dedication to swimming, running and cycling by winning his third Illawarra Academy of Sport Triathlon Athlete of the Year honour.

He also won the award in 2017 and 2018.

It's been an up and down 2020 for Henry, who had a slow start to the year as he recovered from an injury.

And then COVID hit - meaning most triathlon competitions have been cancelled.

However, his highlights included earning a place of the NSW team for the School Sports Australia Championships (which was cancelled) and finishing first at the Canberra Triathlon Festival Sprint Duathlon.

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And with less events on the calendar, the 17-year-old said he felt "refreshed" and remained upbeat about his development this year.

"I think that my consistency has shown through that award over the past few years at the academy," he said.

"I mean, there's not been many events this year, but it's always good to win an award.

"I guess my progression has been pretty good and it's showed to the academy that I'm worthy of winning the award again.

"It's been good to have no pressure racing and I've been able to progress and just steadily train.

"And now that the opportunity of races is starting to return and I'm feeling good, that's been a really big positive to have a bit of a break to not think about the races and just train."

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Henry thanked the IAS for their invaluable support over the past couple of years.

"Sadly I won't be part of it this year, I'm doing the Emerging Talent Squad," the teen said.

"But I think it's really good, especially for younger triathlons who are starting to come into the sport, to help develop those fundamental skills, especially on the bike.

"The academy has been so good for me with the educational sessions we've had with them, the nutritional webinars and sport psychology webinars I always enjoy.

"You always find there's always a lot of key elements in those which you can relate not just to sport, but real life as well.

"That's what I really like about the academy."

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