22 September 2017

Thomas Bitmatta, Year 12 student at St Monica’s College, Epping, won dual titles at the World Drone Championships in Indiana, USA, last month.

Thomas, who has been flying drones since he was 12, was invited to compete after winning the Australian Drone Championships in Sydney earlier this year. He won in two events, the World Cup Race and the Spec Race, beating over 300 competitors of all ages, from around the world.

‘My head is still spinning, it was mind-blowing to come home with the two world titles,’ Thomas said. ‘I drew from my years of practice and it worked for me, I had the speed and the tactics.’

St Monica’s Principal, Brian Hanley told reporters, ‘I say to our students always, the world is bigger than Epping. Go out and embrace it, and Thomas has done just that.’

Thomas is going to complete his VCE at the end of this year and is planning to apply to university, however, he also wants to pursue flying. ‘I definitely want to defend my titles and maybe do a few more tournaments representing Australia, so I’ll just see what happens,’ he said.

Thomas’ win has attracted some media attention including Seven News and TEN Eyewitness News (see below). For more on Thomas’ road to the World Drone Championships view last year’s Lateline report: From underground subculture to the national league drone racing has come a long way.