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2007 Photos Photos from 2007 Races
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SRAM Hook or by Crook Triathlon Munster Sprint Championships: A BIG Well Done to all the participants who took part in the Mid Summer's Day Triathlon in Dunmore East on last Saturday, 21st June. Despite the torrential rain before and during the race, most people had a really fun day and enjoyed themselves. Congratulations to our winners, Trevor Woods in the mens race and Elena Maslova in the ladies race. Provisional Results may be viewed here. However, please note that these results are provisional until all errors are corrected. Race Report to follow.
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Welcome to the Waterford Triathlon Club website. If you are interested in sport, health, fitness and the outdoors then Triathlon could be the thing for you. The race season begins in May and runs until October, with races held almost every weekend all over the country. Club members train together all year round and also take part in various other races such as duathlons, aquathlons, adventure races as well as individual running, swimming and cycling races. So if you can you swim or cycle or run or do all three, then why not challenge yourself and join the club. The club will offer you training & coaching advice, discount offers and weekend training groups. The membership fees are 30E for seniors and 15E for juniors, students and unemployed. All ages and abilities are welcome so if you would like to find out more, feel free to contact any of our Committee Members For all new members, an application form
Podium finishes and pb’s in Try Athy National Championships Last weekend members of the club travelled to Athy to compete in either the Sprint distance or National Championships Olympic distance races which were being held there. This is the 2nd year of this race which has seen the number of entries grow to almost 1300 competitors. The race attracted some elite competitors with a few current and former world Triathlon champions starting with everyone else which made for great viewing for the athletes and spectators. It is claimed to be the fastest Triathlon in the county as the swim is mostly with the current and the cycle and run are pretty flat. We set up camp in a car park near the start of the race and had a really relaxed atmosphere with some of the lads sitting out in deck chairs to have their breakfast. The WAG’s, Olive Costello and Tina Casey, who were in their campervans, spent the morning running around after everyone making coffee and porridge and collecting discarded shoes and clothes from the race. There were 12 starts to the races with the fast swimmers in the Olympic race going first and working down to the slow swimmers in the Sprint race so it was only after everyone was finished and times were adjusted that people knew where they finished overall. The Olympic race consisted of an 1100m downhill swim with a final 400m against the current. The elites really showed their strength when they emerged out of the water in superb times. The 40k cycle involved a 2 lap course which got a little bit crowded towards the end when all the different starts made their way on to the course. The run was pretty scenic by the river for some but it got very hot and there was not much of a breeze to cool you down. Shane Scadding had a brilliant race to finish 15th overall in 2.01.05 mins, a personal best for this distance. He also finished 1st vet overall and was up on the podium to receive his prize. Davin Power also had a great race to finish 28th overall in a pb time of 2.05.50. Next home was Noel Ryan who finished in 2.15.50 which far outstripped his previous best time. Tom Casey was not far behind in 2.16.58. His makeshift tri bar pads of colourful woolly socks didn’t hinder his performance. Michael Bowes, who was racing this distance for the 1st time and only his 2nd ever race did a brilliant time of 2.22.46. He nearly didn’t get home that evening after he flattened his car battery by leaving his lights on but managed to get it sorted out. Michael Moloney, who only did his 1st ever race the previous week, was also racing this distance for the 1st time, did an excellent time of 2.23.22. Martin Kirwan, who is still trying to improve on his swim, had it all to do on the bike and run which he did and finished in a great time of 2.29.22, a pb for this distance. New members Mark Power and David Connolly had never done a race before and decided to enter the world of triathlons with a bang and go for the Olympic distance race straight away. They were a little bit nervous, mainly of the swim, even though they come from a rowing background but it was the perfect race to do a long swim in. Mark had a great race to finish in 2.32.46. David (aka Dots) felt a little light headed after coming out of the swim and missed his hold on the barrier in transition and fell to the ground. He decided to stay safely on his back on the ground to take off his wetsuit before heading out on the bike where he made a full recovery to finish the race in 2.39.29. Colm Long had an excellent swim but disaster struck on the bike when he got a puncture. He made his way to a marshal and borrowed a spare tube but that also punctured so he had to change it a 2nd time. At this stage most people would have given up but Colm decided to persevere and finish the race even though he had lost lots of time and came home in 2.53.38. In the Sprint race, Keith Radley’s training paid off as he had a brilliant race to finish 2nd overall. Helen Whyte was delighted with her cycle and was next home in 2.28.26. Michael Carroll had a much better swim than he expected and finished in 1.29.11. Norma Goggin was thrilled with her swim as it would be the weakest of the 3 disciplines and had a great race to finish in 1.30.10. Tough Swim in Bonmahon Triathlon Last weekend over 130 athletes turned out in Bonmahon for the annual John Collins Memorial Triathlon. It was a sunny day but quite windy so we knew we would have a tough race at some stage. We had a few new members who were doing a Triathlon for the first time so there was a great sense of anticipation and just a little nervousness. As we walked down to the beach to the swim start the sea looked very enticing and some people were really looking forward to having a shorter than normal swim. The swim involved swimming out about 100m to the start and then once the race started, to swim parallel to the beach for 400m to emerge at the finish. The sea looked deceivingly calm before we got in because as soon as we started to swim large waves and swells appeared out of nowhere and everyone, especially the weaker swimmers found it very difficult. A few swimmers decided not to carry on as it was too rough for them. The cycle consisted of a 16k out and back route which had the wind against us on the outward leg, made all the more difficult with the few sharp hills on the course, but made for a fast return. The 6k run involved running up a gradual hill for the first half of it so it felt like you didn’t get a chance to get a good breath into you until you got the top and could run downhill. Keith Radley had a great swim, considering it is his weakest of the 3 disciplines and together with a fast bike and run enabled him to pick up a prize for 5th overall in 1hr 1min. Alan Smith was next home in a great time of 1hr 4mins to finish 8th overall. Noel Ryan, wearing the club colours for the first time, was feeling inspired and finished 17th overall in 1hr 7mins. Martin Kirwan, who is still pretty new to Triathlons had a great race to finish 22nd overall in 1hr 11mins. Michael Moloney was participating in a Triathlon for the 1st time which you would never know as he finished 27th overall in 1hr 14mins. Maria Griffin, who hasn’t been doing as much training on the bike and swim as she would like, had a brilliant race to finish 3rd female in 1hr 16mins. New club member Derek Barrett who was also racing for the 1st time was delighted with his race to come home in 1hr 22mins. Brian Slattery was both looking forward to this day and dreading it at the same time. He was a bit green emerging from the swim as it was a bit rougher than he had hoped but he made up for it on the bike and run to finish his first triathlon in 1hr 23mins. Before the race, Norma Goggin was very excited about the prospect of a nice short swim as it wouldn’t be her favourite discipline, but was in for a shock when she got into the water. She put in a great effort though and made up time on the bike and run to finish 1st female Vet in 1hr 35mins. Helen Whyte’s race preparations went a bit wrong before the race as she brought the wrong cycle shoes and had to do the cycle in her runners. It was a relief to get on the bike after the swim which she found very difficult. Fiona Doolin, who only went into serious training a few weeks ago was delighted with her race and both she and Helen ran and chatted their way through the latter part of the run to finish together in 1hr 41mins. Tracy Pollard didn’t like the swim at all but persevered to have a great race and finish in 1hr 54mins. Liam Lowe was unfortunate on the bike to crash off going round a bend and dislocate his shoulder. We wish him a speedy recovery. Even though the swim was tough, everyone really enjoyed the race especially the tea, sandwiches and buns provided by the organisers after the race which was very much appreciated. It was a great race, and well done to all the marshals and organisers. First Outdoor Swim Triathlon Race of Season Last weekend the 1st sea swim this year took place in Valentia Island with almost 300 competitors braving the cold waters. This race usually takes place a few weeks earlier but due to the coldness of the water it was moved back a few weeks later. This race is unique in that competitors only swim in one direction. All competitors get their bike etc ready in transition on the island and then get a ferry across to the mainland where the race starts. They then swim back over to the island to complete the race. The race consisted of a 750m swim followed by a 20k cycle and 5k run. The cycle route starts on a nasty hill which separates everyone up nicely. It was a 4pm start so everyone is quite rested before the race. The sea was perfectly calm and the sun came out which made it very enjoyable. Tom Casey and Noel Dillon were our only 2 participants in the race who seem to make it an annual expedition. They both emerged from the water within seconds of each other. They passed each other a few times on the bike but Tom had the better running legs on the day finishing 9th overall and 1st vet in 1.08.20. Noel came home 17th overall in 1.10.20. They both beat their times from last year by 2mins and 6mins respectively. Fingal Pool Based Triathlon Meanwhile, on the same weekend in Dublin, the weather was not so nice. It was wet and windy made all the worse by swimmers emerging from the warm water and environment of the pool. There were almost 300 competitors taking part in this Sprint distance race with 3 starts with about 10 swimmers per lane. The flat water of the pool would have been turned into a much rougher swim with so many swimmers in it than most sea swims. Keith Radley, who was participating in his 1st pool swim race, emerged from the pool a good few minutes down on the leaders but after posting the 8th fastest bike time on the day it brought him up to finish 17th overall in 1hr 08mins. Eric Pinaqui was hoping to better his time here from last year and was not disappointed as he finished in 1hr 24 mins, 4 mins faster than last year. Waterford to Tramore Annual Run The 7.5 mile annual run from Waterford to Tramore took place last weekend with over 260 runners taking part. It’s a great sight to see all the runners running out of town with all the traffic stopped for a few minutes, everyone just looking on in amazement. Eddie Delaney, who is training hard for the Cork marathon next weekend, had a superb run to finish 9th overall in 43.29mins. Alan Smith was hot on his heels to finish 14th overall in 44.38mins. Next home was Alan Murphy in 28th place in 46.34mins with his brother Dan not far behind in 50.52mins, both of whom are also taking part in the Cork marathon next weekend. Dermot Power also had a great run to finish in 51.36mins. Louis O’Carroll had an excellent run to come home 2nd male Junior in 54.43mins. Niamh Sullivan was delighted with her run of 1hr 29secs, an excellent time. All those long runs are definitely paying off for her. Joey Hannon & Try-Athlon Races in Limerick You know the Triathlon season has well and truly started when the Joey Hannon race takes place in Limerick each year. It always attracts a large number of entrants with some of Ireland’s best athletes taking part. It didn’t look so good last Sunday morning as we left Waterford for Limerick so early that it was still quite dark with heavy rain falling and not a trace of blue in the sky. Extra clothes had to be packed as you didn’t know what to wear for the race. By the time everyone got to the race though the day had miraculously changed and the sun came out and it turned out to be a scorcher of a day. The one thing that no one thought to bring was sunscreen. There were 2 races taking place, the Joey Hannon Olympic race and a shorter Try-athlon. As it was a pool based race, there were 2 starts in each race. Everyone had to estimate their times and this determined what start and what lane you were in. There were 10 lanes in the pool with up to 10 swimmers in the lane. Even though it was a 50m pool it still got a bit hectic at times as some swimmers turned out to be faster or slower than others in the lane with the result that some people got held up and lost time in the swim. Martin Kirwan and Michael Bowes took part in the Try-athlon along with over 170 other athletes. This was a 500m swim followed by a 20k cycle and 5k run. This was Michael’s first triathlon and Martin’s first time doing a pool swim so they were both quite nervous. Martin’s swim is the weakest of the 3 disciplines so he came out of the water quite far behind the fastest but he made up for it on the bike posting the 4th fastest time overall and on the run to finish an excellent 11th overall in 1.22.09. Michael’s run was his best discipline on the day which brought him up to an amazing 18th overall in 1.24.18. A great result for his first race. The Joey Hannon race consisted of a 1500m swim with a 42k cycle and 10k run with over 160 athletes taking part. The day had started to get quite warm at this stage but was great for the supporters standing around! Stefan Green and Noel Ryan started in the 1st wave with Shane Scadding and Colm Long in the 2nd wave. Shane had a great swim to emerge 15th out of the water but he had a stormer of a bike, posting the 2nd fastest time overall in 1hr 3mins, which, together with a good run was enough for him to finish 6th overall in 2.05.08. This was Stefan’s 1st time doing a triathlon so he didn’t know what to expect at all. He had a great race to finish 50th overall in 2.30.48. He said afterwards that it was harder than he expected which made his result even better. Noel Ryan came out of the swim a few minutes behind Stefan but as they both had to same time for the bike and Noel having a faster run the end result was Noel to finish just behind Stefan in 51st place in 2.31.15. I can foresee many battles between these 2 in races to come. Colm Long had a great swim and cycle but managed to get a huge blister on the bottom of his foot on the run which ended up with a large portion of skin hanging off (not for the faint hearted!). He found it very difficult to run but persevered to finish the race not in a time he had hoped but very well considering. First Dip in the Cold Open Water As the 1st open water race is only a few weeks away we decided we had better take the wetsuits out of storage and talk ourselves into going for a swim in Dunmore East again to remember just how cold the water can be at this time of year. We were very lucky with the weather as Bank holiday Monday was probably the warmest day of the year so far so it made it a little more enticing. 20 brave souls turned up, a few still half thinking of just watching everyone else but everyone donned the wetsuits eventually. Some of the guys felt quite ashamed of their lack of enthusiasm and fear of the cold water when we made our way down to the beach to find children in the water with no wetsuits and no complaints, happily swimming around. The water did feel pretty cold at first and there were quite a few squeals but after a few minutes we acclimatised and it didn’t feel so bad. It’s great to have gotten back in the open water again but this is one club that could definitely not get in without a wetsuit!
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LINKS - 2006 REVIEW - FEEDBACK - CONTACT US
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(c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO WATERFORD TRIATHLON CLUB - LAST UPDATED ON 15 FEB @ 21:00 GMT |
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