Future of triAthlone hangs in the balance

The fifth annual triAthlone delivered on its promise to be the biggest and best yet, as thousands of visitors flocked to the town to participate or catch a glimpse of the European Triathlon Championships last weekend. However the event's chief organiser said yesterday (Tuesday) that its future is clouded in uncertainty. "I'm not sure that the event has a future," said triAthlone CEO Liam Heavin. "I think all of the stakeholders involved need to take a step back from it and take stock." The weekend was hugely successful in terms of the visitor numbers and media attention it generated, but it was not a financial success for the organisers. "It will have made a very significant loss," said Mr Heavin. "That has to be paid back, and we need to see what we can do to remediate it. That's just the reality of it, these things cost a lot of money." He stated that the voluntary team behind the race was "a bit jaded" after the huge effort that had gone into the event and would take a break of a month or two before deciding on triAthlone's future. "I would like to think a triathlon can continue in some form, but we don't even want to think about the exact shape or make-up of it at the moment," he said. "There are a lot of stakeholders to consider and we can't make decisions unilaterally, we have to consider the other parties involved." Mr Heavin wished to publicly thank Athlone Town Council, Waterways Ireland, the organising committee and all who were involved in making the event a reality. "We had a central organising committee of about 20 people and the level of work involved was overwhelming at times. There were many late nights and early starts. Everyone is completely exhausted and a little bit relieved that it's over." He stated that bringing something as big as the European Triathlon Championships to Athlone was the committee's ambition ever since the triAthlone began in 2006. "That was the aim but we had hiccups and difficulties along the way which make you question if it's worth it at times. When we first went to the town council they could easily have dismissed us because it seemed like a mad idea at the time. "There were issues ranging from the current on the Shannon to traffic and road closures to issues around the communication of the event. If any of those had evolved slightly differently we might never have gotten to this stage." Mr Heavin said he'd heard that the viewing figures from RTÉ Two's highlights coverage of the triathlon on Sunday evening were "very encouraging." He singled out three personal highlights from the event. "The first was seeing (Derry's) Aileen Morrison come fifth in the Elite women's race on Saturday. It was a fantastic result and it's always great to have an Irish flavour to an occasion like this. "The second was seeing Alistair Brownlee (the world champion and winner of the Elite men's race) in the flesh. "His performance was remarkable and, as the race commentator said, at the moment he's probably pound-for-pound the best athlete in the world in any sport. "A third highlight was the crowds. To see people packed in seven or eight deep in some places was fantastic and something that the athletes were commenting on afterwards." Mr Heavin said that if there is a future for the triAthlone it's unlikely to be similar in scale to this year's event. "I don't think anything will come to the town that will match what we had last weekend, unless we win another European Championships bid and that's not something we're contemplating. "This was unprecedented and everyone deserves to take a step back, enjoy what we've achieved, and then decide whether there's a desire, will or need to continue."