Large contingent of local athletes take part in biggest triAthlone yet

WITH thousands of interested spectators taking to the streets of Athlone over the course of last Saturday, there was plenty of local interest amongst a hugely competitive field of 2,600 athletes. Of course, the winner of the women's elite race, Australian Felicity Sheedy-Ryan, has strong Athlone connections and CEO of Waterways Ireland TriAthlone, Liam Heavin, spoke of his delight at how the event went afterwards. "This was the biggest year yet for Waterways Ireland TriAthlone with over triple the number of participants than the European Championships. That shows how extremely popular and highly regarded TriAthlone has become over a relatively short space of time. We are delighted with the success of the Irish men and women's triathletes Bryan Keane and Aileen Morrison, and with the fantastic turnout of thousands of people cheering on the streets supporting all the athletes. We are already looking forward to hosting next year's European Triathlon Championships in 2010," Heavin said. Last weekend's event moved TriAthlone up into the fourth most attended triathlon in the world and the arrival of the European Triathlon Championship next year should give the event even more credibility and prestige. Last year's runner-up in the men's sprint individual race, Tim Downing, of Trinity College Triathlon Club, had the honour of been first over the line in this section, while Athlone's Wayne Reid was the first local competitor home, improving on last year's finish by two places and finishing sixth with a time of just over 1hr and 6mins. Downing and Reid were competing in the sprint event, which is designed to cater for non-international elite athletes and included many top Irish competitors. A separate shorter swim of 200 metre length was included in the Try-a-Tri category for novice participants, which attracted some 200 entries. Along with in the region of 80 relay teams across the sprint and try events, there were some over 2,500 competitors taking part in total this year. Liam Heavin added: "The fact we got an Irish winner is a massive boost to the event. It brings with it increased national exposure and I expect the popularity of TriAthlone to escalate further after this excellent achievement by the winner Bryan Keane." Athlone had a huge representation this year with Athlone Triathlon Club alone entering up to 60 members. Included in this list of entrants was four eventual winners - Denise Dolan (Ladies Olympic Distance), John Bruton (Men's Sprint Distance, 50-54), Michael Macken (Men's Sprint Race, 45-49), and Mossy Collins (Sprint Relay Swim Leg 1). Athlone Triathlon Club member and well known sports enthusiast Gordon Brett moved up from the Try-a-Tri to the Sprint distance and spoke after the race, saying: "I didn't do too badly but there's plenty of room for improvement. Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with my time but I was 49th in my age category from about 210 entrants so that was some consolation. I moved up from the Try-a-Tri to the proper Sprint distance so it was my first proper triathlon ever. I have a time to beat next year now and when I compared my bike and run times from last year in the Try-a-Tri event I have improved significantly." "Swimming is my weakest discipline but I was very happy with my time but also with how I felt when I came out of the water. The transition from the bike to the run was tough as my calves cramped. The wind was strong on the outward leg of the cycle and I probably went too hard on that section. I paced myself badly on the run as I had too much left in the tank for the final 400m." Local solicitor Grainne O'Neill entered the Olympic Individual Women's race and achieved a respectable 17th place finish. She said certain strong swimmers were slightly disappointed to see the swimming distance changed due to the strength of the current on Saturday. "It was a very enjoyable day and great to see so many local participants. It was unfortunate to see the Olympic Individual swim changed because you train with the length in mind, so that was slightly disappointing. Traditionally, swimming is tough in TriAthlone and the current was a bit stronger than I expected. But it was fantastic for the town and great to see television cameras in place," said Grainne. Jarlath Naughton, from Retreat Road, Athlone, entered the Olympic Individual Men's race and it was his second year to take part. "It turned out to be a good race for me and an improvement on last year. I knocked six minutes off last year's time so I'm happy enough. I have a background in swimming so did well in that but found the cycling quite tough. There was a strong headwind on the way out of town. There was a great vibe off the supporters though and I'll be back for the Europeans next year," Jarlath said. Athlone native Gary Byrne returned home from England to take part and finished 25th in the Sprint Individual Men's race. "I enjoyed it and knocked about five minutes off last year's time, but probably felt I could have done a little better overall. Hopefully I'll get back to take part again next year and improve further," he said. Cathal Temple, of Temple Printing, Athlone, was doing TriAthlone to raise money for local priest Fr PJ Hughes who is in Ecuador with the Missions. Cathal said: "It's a very well run event that encourages people to participate at so many different levels. For me, taking part is the big thing. I knocked some time off last year's finish but it was just great to be part of it and to sample the atmosphere in the town. Hopefully I'll be fit and able to take part again next year."