Saturday, the 2nd of June, saw thirteen club members head for the land of the Lilywhites as the 2007 triathlon season got underway in Athy ,Co Kildare. For some it was the final preparation for Ironman Germany, for others it was a first taste of Olympic distance racing, and for one it was the beginning and end of this year’s campaign.

The two hour drive to Athy and the fact that registration closed at 09:30 ensured it was to be an early start for many of the Setanta crew, with most fed, showered, carbed up and on the road by 06:30.

On arrival, the sight of a wind and rain swept Athy provoked memories of Athlone 2006 in those of us who had endured the midlands race almost a year ago. However, fears of a repeat were soon eased as the weather conditions continued to improve as the morning progressed.

The course itself was billed as “the flattest and fastest in Ireland”, which was a claim sure to be closely scrutinized by members of a club who introduced the Irish triathlon scene to the wonders of flat road racing in the form of the Dundalk to Castlebellingham road! In fact, research published in “Irish Cycling” magazine last year stated that the only thing flatter in Dundalk was Brian Cafferty’s tyres after he sat on his bike!

Naturally enough, these claims proved to be unfounded as the out and back bike course featured a number of drags which slowed the progress of the 450 athletes in attendance.

The wind ensured the outward and inward legs of the bike course were to offer an almost comical contrast in terms of difficulty. Heading out of Athy, we faced a strong headwind which meant a constant grind to turn the wheels and our focus being placed solely on the turnaround point 10k up the road. Once negotiated, the return leg not only offered respite but an opportunity to regain lost time.
Similarly, the run, although an enjoyable one along the banks of the River Barrow, certainly wasn’t the fastest in Ireland. In fact, the “5k run” which featured in the Sprint distance race, was estimated afterwards by some as closer to 6k in distance. Scandalous! One aspect of the race which supported the claims of the organizers was the swim, as nearly all of the Setanta gang recorded personal best’s  in their respective races!

A few of the newbie’s found out the hard way what an away race entails, i.e. 5am alarm bells and trying to get up before the next snooze ring. Then of course you have the ladies that decided to tour South Kildare for an extra few k’s unfortunately this was in the car and of no benefit to the legs, Although Jackie would still be proud of your attempt Maried, so after the afore mentioned got into register with Mins to spare. It was time for a relaxing cup of coffee in the Clubrooms of Athy GAA.

Tri Athy are still looking for the Goodie bag that was Swift posted to the Lourdes Hospital before the race even started, just to remind Gerry what could have been, if he had of looked up, and wore his Helmet (Best Wishes Gerry from all in the Club).

TriAthy offered both a Sprint and Olympic distance race, with two club members opting for the shorter distance and the remaining eleven competing in the Olympic race.

Current Irish long distance champion Liam Dolan was unsurprisingly the first club man home in 5th position, a remarkable result considering the highly competitive start line featured both current and former Irish national champions,(Gavin Noble and Trevor Woods)the national duathlon champion(Liam Dunne) and regular race winners Tim Downing, David Graham and Fernando Fuentes. Liam also recorded a personal best of 22:20 for the 1500m swim and again managed to record the fastest cycle of the day, something which is becoming an all too familiar sight for the rest of the countries elite!

Equally impressive was Mary Laverty’s 2:23 display of 5th woman overall, given that Mary is concentrating on IM Germany this was a fantastic result and can only suggest that short course racing is to be followed up after Germany. Graham Townsend Managed an incredibly impressive 33rd overall, purely down in no small measure to the fact he was out to impress the Girlfriend

The expansion of the club membership this year has resulted in the discovery of some more high calibre athletes, as evidence by new club members David Myles and Anthony Mc Guirk’s fantastic results. David and Anthony finished in 2:25:41 and 2:28:10 respectively however it must be said that Anthony caused somewhat of a stir by insisting that he have the lead car guide him around the course despite not being in the lead!

Nifty at Fifty is the best way to describe the evergreen Declan Mc Cabe who won a day long battle with Ruaidhri Stewart. Ruaidhri managed to take a slender lead out of the water after a fantastic swim of 28:23,with Dec exiting 1min 34sec later in 29:57 and just sneaking under the half an hour mark! Not only did Ruaidhri manage to maintain his lead throughout the 40km cycle, but he managed to narrowly extend it by a further 17 sec to take a lead of nearly two mins into the 10k run. However, being a Mc Cabe, Dec refused to accept defeat and responded over the course of the 10k to overturn the deficit and finish strongly, coming in 48 sec ahead of Ruaidhri in 2:33:26. These two great performances are indicative of the healthy levels of competition running throughout the club.

Finally, next home was the ever nervous looking Ann–Marie Gaynor, who finished in a fantastic 2:55:18. Surely, doing a sub 3 hour race in her first ever Olympic distance triathlon will be enough to convince Ann-Marie she need never stand on the start line in fear again!

The Femme Felda Ladies, despite being put into disarray by Maried’s Sense of direction posted a combined 2:49 very impressive, and Michelle and Claire are both looking for new pilot for the next away race, but have stated both are happy to continue as team-mates.

Following the Olympic distance race was the Sprint triathlon, in which club members Aidan Connolly, Niall Carroll and Martin Harvey competed, along with 229 others.
They were able to take advantage of the strong current to finish the 750 metre swim in 8:44 and 10:24 respectively, with Aidan exiting the water in 15th position with Niall following soon after in 67th position and Martin in 86th

Niall & Martin wasted no time in chasing down their club-mate on the outbound leg of the cycle, and took a lead of nearly 4 mins & 2 mins into T2. Niall built on this platform to produce a fantastic performance and finish in 1:18:19 (this was after keeping his driver for the day late because he just did not know that the hour of 5am existed) and in 40th place overall, while Martin finishes in 1:22: 30 in 67th and Aidan followed in afterwards in 1:24:06 in 80th.

The race represented a great start to the season for many club members and gave an insight into the personal rivalries which should dominate the summer months and help make the 2007 season a fun, competitive and successful one for the boys and girls from Setanta.

So it’s now on to Camlough this weekend where some people will be treating this as a home race due to the amount of water they have drunk from the lake this year already. Best of luck to all members taking part on Saturday

Yours in Sport,

Aidan & Ruaidhrí.