On Sunday the 12th of May, a large contingent of Blackwater Triathlon Club members, accompanied by various family members and supporters, travelled to Limerick to take part in the Joey Hannon Memorial Triathlon. This event is run by the Limerick Triathlon Club on the grounds of the University of Limerick, in memory of fellow triathlete, friend & club member Joey Hannan who was tragically killed while out cycling some years ago. There were a number of events run on the day, a try-a-Tri/Novice race, a Junior triathlon, a Sprint event, an Olympic distance triathlon and a ParaTri race. The swim portion of the events is held in the fabulous 50 metre pool in the UL sports campus, which makes it the first full triathlon of the year for many people. Many of our members had trained there a few weeks earlier during our spring training camp, but for many of the people taking part this was a rare opportunity to experience a full 50m pool. The pool swim meant that this race can be run early in the Triathlon Calendar with no need for participants to wear a wet-suit. The Bike and Run courses were relatively flat and well marshalled making the race fast but safe and largely un-intimidating for the novice triathlete. This is a very popular event with over 500 athletes taking part in the races on the day. The try-a-tri and junior races kicked things off at 9am, followed by the Olympic waves, and finally the sprint waves. The campus and surrounding area were like a sea of high-visibility vests with over eighty marshals safely guiding athletes through their respective races. It was a beautiful sunny spring day as the athletes gathered at the impressive University Of Limerick sports complex to begin the races. BTC had two competitors in the Try a tri race on the day, Adam Przybylski and Siobhain Steele. Antony O’Brien, Ken Steele, Sean Lomasney, Brighid liston, Kevin O’Farrell, Roy O’Riordain, Michelle Kearney and Anthony Cody all took part in the sprint triathlon. This consisted of a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5 km run, and for Michelle, Anthony and Roy, it was their first Sprint event. Among the athletes taking on the 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run in the Olympic distance event on the day were no fewer than ten members of the Blackwater Triathlon Club. For Justin Ryan, Gearoid Murphy and Jim Crowley it was a first attempt at the distance. They were joined by Shane Collins, Peter O’Brien, Michael Mulcahy, Dave Bartley, Adam Blaiklock, George Clancy and Eileen Ryan. Justin did particularly well on the day, finishing second in his age group and 6th overall in 2:15:16.
Julian Boeg took part in the ParaTri race, completing the sprint distance race in 2:00:49, first in his category. Conditions on the day were near perfect for racing and all agreed that, once again, Limerick Triathlon Club had organised a really good event. Well done to our members for taking part and, as usual, doing the BTC proud. There is an obvious progression from all our members showing that the club’s training programs, in conjunction with the dedication of the members themselves, are having definitive results year on year.