Australian Wins World Plumbing Medal

NSW apprentice, Tyson Knight, took out the Silver in Plumbing at the recent International WorldSkills Competition in the US.

Knight’s win was the highest ever achieved by an Australian and it was his performance in the copper component-12 hours of soft and hard soldering-that won him the medal he says.

“I gained a lot of experience with copper throughout my apprenticeship in industrial and commercial plumbing,” says Tyson. “I used it every day and enjoyed working with it.”

Head Plumbing Teacher, Bruce Lennon, at Sutherland TAFE where Tyson learnt his trade, witnessed the hard work and dedication his student put in leading up to WorldSkills.

“He quit his full-time job and took on a part-time position to enable him to come into college two days a week to train and practice for what he had to do overseas”

The WorldSkills competition represents 51 member countries worldwide and was established in 1950-with Australia competing every year since 1988. Gold, silver and bronze medals are up for grabs across 45 skill categories.

Tyson was invited to compete at WorldSkills International after demonstrating his talent on the national stage-first winning Victorian Apprentice of the Year and the top award at the national WorldSkills competition.

He had to undertake four days of competition in a range of plumbing skill categories and was up against 23 competitors from around the world.