On Saturday the 21st of July Cobh Triathlon Club’s Jailbreak Standard Distance race took place in Cobh. Amongst the nearly 300 competitors that took part in this popular National Series race were no fewer than nine members of the Blackwater Triathlon Club. Conditions on the day were calm and very warm as the athletes gathered together in Cobh on Saturday morning. The first order of business was to ferry the athletes out to Spike Island, the former prison which gives the race its name, for the beginning of the 1700 metre swim. After a few years of really unpleasant conditions for this race, the swimmers had near perfect conditions for the swim and some very fast times were recorded on the day. Following the swim across Cork harbour the athletes landed on Great Island and took to their bikes for the 38km cycle to the outskirts of Cork City and back. The race culminated with a 10km run along the waterfront in a flat and extremely fast race. The first athlete home was Chris Mintern, a former winner of the Edge Sports Blackwater Triathlon, who crossed the finish line in an incredible time of 1:44:44. No less impressive was the first lady home, Deirdre Casey, who finished in time of 1hr 57mins 10secs, a time only bettered by the first 4 men home on the day! The Blackwater Triathlon Club contingent all had a good day out as well. Brian Baker was the first BTC athlete home in an excellent time of 2:18:43, coming first in his age group. He was followed home by Dave Murphy, Jonathan Kenneally and Michael Mulcahy who finished in 2:21:34, 2:21:50 and 2:22:52 respectively, just 78 seconds separating them. Deidre Morrisson also won her age group, finishing just over 30 seconds behind Michael in 2:23:25. Dave Bartley and Adam Blaiklock also had a close race with Dave crossing the line in 2:28:06, just 20 seconds ahead of Adam in 2:28:26. Mick Beston finished the race in 2:32:31 and Dave McGrath came home in 2:55:21. All of the BTC athletes performed very well on the day and managed to handle the heat of the day very well. They all enjoyed their day out in Cobh and would recommend the race to everyone. It was well organised and very friendly and a credit to the folks in Cobh Triathlon Club.