The Edge Sports Blackwater Triathlon

The Edge Sports Blackwater Olympic distance Triathlon was held in Fermoy on Sunday June the 19th. 2019 was the last time we were able to hold a race and after two years without a race due to Covid restrictions, the Blackwater Triathlon Club was delighted to welcome athletes back to Fermoy for a day of racing.

Some of the Blackwater Crew getting ready for the race.

For many athletes this was their first opportunity to race in nearly three years and we did our best to make it a great day out for athletes and spectators both. Normally we hold our race in the middle of August, but the Ironman is taking place in August this year and since many of our members are taking part in that event the club decided to go with a mid-June date instead. The last year the event was held, in 2019, we introduced the Olympic distance race in addition to our try-a-tri and sprint races. Unfortunately, due to lingering Covid issues, we had to make the tough decision to hold only one race this year. Since there are many sprint distance races taking place in County Cork and neighbouring counties the BTC made the decision to go with an Olympic distance event. The race was made up of a 1500 metre swim in the Blackwater, followed by a 40 km cycle and a 10 km run. Fermoy is uniquely situated to hold an event such as this. The town is based in the heart of Munster with excellent road links and of course we also have the River Blackwater, which is ideal for the swim. This year we had a new pontoon for the swim exit and new dividing buoys to separate swimmers on the river, courtesy of the Sports Capital Grant that the Blackwater Triathlon Club was awarded. The race was scheduled to start on Sunday morning at 9a.m. This meant lots of work for club members on Saturday evening as we prepared the park, setting up the transition area and marking out the route. It also meant a very early start on Sunday morning as club members started arriving at the park as early as 6 o’clock to finish off the preparations and get ready for the arrival of the athletes. There were very few fathers’ Day lie-ins for club members this year! Weather conditions were unseasonably cool on Sunday morning and many of the athletes and organisers were delighted to put their new ‘The Edge Sports Blackwater Triathlon 2022’ beanies to good use. The transition area was a veritable sea of black and blue bobble hats as everyone went about their business. Fortunately, despite the wind and clouds, the day stayed dry. At 9.28 a.m. over 100 triathletes entered the water by the rowing club and Christian Board, the race organiser this year, counted down the seconds to the start. It was wonderful to see that a Triathlon had returned to Fermoy after an absence of nearly 3 years. Competition was fierce on the day with many top class athletes taking part. Sebastian Helke, from West Cork Tri Club, was first out of the water and the first person to use our new exit pontoon in competition. It worked beautifully and Sebastian leaped up on to the bank and raced away to transition having completed the 1500 metre swim in less than 23 minutes. The first female athlete out of the water was Shauna Doelken, the winner of the 2019 sprint triathlon. Shauna set a rapid pace in the water, finishing the swim section in 26:51. The cycle was a two lap route going to Glanworth then Ballyhooley and back to Fermoy. The wind conditions on the day made for a challenging cycle but it remained dry and our marshals did a great job getting everyone around safely. Sebastian was once again first back from the cycle having maintained his lead from the swim, closely followed by Trevor Woods and John O’Connell. Shauna had also managed to maintain her lead from the swim and was the first female athlete to head out on the run, with Jennifer O’Sullivan and Joyce Wolfe in hot pursuit. The run section of the race was a 10km out and back route which was described as ‘undulating’ by some and ‘hellishly hilly’ by others.  It’s a tough route but that’s part of the fun of triathlon. Having led from the start, Sebastian was the first athlete home on the day, crossing the line in a very impressive 2:10:08. He was followed by the evergreen Trevor Woods who finished in 2:14:17. Trevor has been a stalwart of the triathlon scene in Ireland for decades and despite being in his fifties now is clearly not ready to relinquish his position to all those younger athletes just yet. The next athlete home was Blackwater Triathlon Club’s own Michael Lyons. Michael crossed the line in 2:17:38. Despite being nearly 6 minutes behind John O’Connell on the swim Michael managed to pull back nearly two minutes on the cycle and then a blistering 37:19 10km run allowed him to pass both John and fellow BTC athlete Dave McCarthy on the final leg. Dave also had an excellent run completing the 10km in 39:55 and beating John to fourth place. In the female race Shauna was well ahead of the field and came home in a very impressive 2:20:16, over ten minutes clear of her nearest competitor. She was the recipient of the Helen Lyons memorial trophy once again, and having brought it to the race with her that morning was able to take it home again that night. Joyce Wolfe was second, finishing in 2:30:50, beating Jennifer O’Sullivan by just 25 seconds. Joyce, who, like Trevor Woods, has been a stalwart of Irish triathlon for years now, recently completed the Cork City marathon and her running strength enabled her to overtake Jennifer on the run. It was an excellent day’s racing and despite the somewhat chilly conditions the athletes received a very warm welcome in Fermoy.

It was great to get the race back up and running again after the enforced break and hopefully next year’s race will be bigger and better.

Once again we are grateful for the good will and support of the people of Fermoy who came out to support the athletes during the race. Part of the proceeds from this year’s race will go to Blackwater Sub Aqua Club. Credit must go to the race organisers and club members who have put so much time and effort into making the Edge Sports Blackwater Triathlon the best race it can be. We would also like to acknowledge the huge contribution made by the Fermoy town council, the Gardai, local businesses and members of the local community, without whom the event could not take place.

We would especially like to thank Pauline Moriarty and Brendan O’Gorman and their colleagues on the town council, Sergeant Daniel Cowman and his colleagues in the Garda Siochana, Blackwater Sub Aqua Club, Paul Hartnett and Eileen O’Sullivan of the Ayrton Group, Killavullin Canoe Club, Fermoy Rowing Club, Suzie and Dave Horan of Raffeen Parks for access to the swim exit and Robert Duggan of Triathlon Ireland. Without the marshals we couldn’t run the race on the day and we get great assistance from the people of Fermoy every year. Thanks also to club members and their very understanding families. A big thank you must also go to the residents on the route, the people of Fermoy for their support and of course the competitors.

The Edge Sports are our main sponsors again this year and we’re delighted to have them on board. We'd also like to thank our other contributors;

Blackwater Motors, Synergy Credit Union Ltd., APC Physio and Sports Clinic, Christopher Gallaghue ‘Yogalates’, New Ireland, Greenman, Texaco Spar Fermoy Service Station, DM Fruit & Veg,Podium Fitness, Lyons Family Pharmacy, Amber Service Station, Mynd Wellness and Recovery Drinks.