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22nd May 2010 - Valentia Triathlon - 1^st open water Triathlon of the season

Over 40 of us hit Valentia Island recently for their annual sprint distance triathlon which is one of the 1^st open water Triathlons of the year.  We hired 5 houses and together with the campervan contingent, it was one of our greatest weekend away races.  Here last year, some people got hypothermia, this year we had sunburn complaints.  With an afternoon start, it was very hard to focus and remember that there was a race to be done.

The race is unique in that the competitors get ferried across the mainland and then swim back 750m to the island where they complete the 20k cycle and 5k run.  It did sound weird to listen to the safety briefing on the ferry in case it sank with everyone stood on it in their wetsuits waiting to do a swim. 

With over 500 competitors, there were 2 swim starts, based on predicted swim times.  Stephen Doyle had a great start to emerge 4^th out of the water, with Mark Hayden, Stefan Green and Shane Scadding over a minute behind.  Shane had a blistering bike to post the 2^nd fastest time overall which brought him up to 3^rd place heading out on the run.  He was followed closely by the 4^th placed competitor whom he managed to hold off until the final few meters where a sprint finish ensued but it was a battle he lost.  He had to settle for 4^th place overall to finish in 1.01.05, 1^st in his age-group.

Stephen Doyle lost a few places on the bike but a strong run saw him finish 14^th overall in 1.05.11.  Stefan Green also had a great race to finish 18^th overall in 1.06.10, 2^nd in his age-group.  Martin Kirwan had a disastrous swim start as he got pushed under the water and got his goggles kicked off so it took him a while to get his rhythm back and relax. He emerged 220^th out of the water but wasn’t long about picking off those in front of him as he posted the 4^th fastest bike and 12^th fastest run of the day to claw his way back up to finish 21^st overall in 1.07.03, 3^rd in his age-group.

Noel Ryan was next home in 28^th place after a strong bike to finish in 1.08.08.  Michael Bowes got caught up on a bike crash soon after starting the cycle which ended up with quite a bit of damage to the bike but he and his bike were ok to carry on with the race and finished 35^th in a great time of 1.09.12.  Peter Barry was next home in 38^th place in 1.09.30 with Barry Lambe just behind in 1.10.06, 47^th overall.  There was nothing between our next few home with Marc O’Cathasaigh in 1.11.13, Mark Hayden in 1.11.23, Tom Casey in 1.11.30 (2^nd in his age-group), Gavin Quinlan in 1.11.44 and Andrew Hickey in 1.11.54.

Colin Fanning was next home in 1.14.43 with Brian Slattery just behind in 1.15.37 and Padraic Connolly in 1.17.32.  Carol Sinnott was 1^st of the girls home in 1.20.12.  Siobhán Kennedy was very nervous before this race as it was her 1^st sea swim race and only her 2^nd ever triathlon but her fears were unfounded as she had a brilliant swim followed by a stronger bike and run to finish in 1.23.16 and pick up an award for 1^st in her age-group.  Derek Barrett was next home in 1.27.00 followed by Olive O’Brien in 1.28.42.  Eleanor Carey and Mark Daly were home just seconds apart in 1.32.57 and 1.33.08 with Catherine Galvin next in 1.34.55.  This was Katie Kelly’s 1^st triathlon so she was inexperienced in the whole etiquette of open water swim starts.  She played it safe by starting near the back but then was unable to gain advantage of her strong swimming as she found it difficult to overtake swimmers ahead of her.  She still had a good swim though and enjoyed the rest of the race to finish in 1.35.14.  Caroline Russell and Michael Carroll finished one after the other in 1.43.35 and 1.11.16.

Everyone stayed around for the weekend but not too much alcohol was consumed as this year’s Ironmen hopefuls all went for a long run around the island the following morning to keep their training on track.

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