Swim Pool Training underway this week + Sports Complex Reduced Rate Swimming

SLIGO REGIONAL SPORTS COMPLEX HAVE AGREED A GREAT DEAL WHICH MEANS THAT ALL SLIGO TRIATHLON CLUB MEMBERS CAN USE THE POOL FOR €4 INSTEAD OF THE NORMAL €6.

You may be asked for your triathlon ireland membership card if the staff don't know you. The pool also has good deals on monthly swim cards which depending on usage might work out cheaper for some people.


Swim trainging kicks off tomorrow night at 9:50pm in the sports complex pool with a second session in the same pool on Friday at 7pm.

Note that these two sessions are completely booked out and if you haven't registered in the last two weeks and paid in full for your place please do not arrive expecting a swim, we simply don't have the room.

We've also confirmed a new sunday 8am coached swim session in avina in ballysadare, there are a couple of places left on this contact sligotriathlon@gmail.com for more detail on this.

Don't forget your fins check blog for more info on those.

We will be doing a video analysis session for all swimmers again this year which was very helpful and informative last year along with a brief swim theory lecture.

Blacksod Point Challenge Race Report

The weather turned nasty for the last triathlon outing of the year for club members with a strong headwind testing the bike skills of the Sligo team of Eamonn McAndrew, Tommy Sheridan, Stewart McKenna, Jason “Skinny” McMorrow, Adrian O’Connor, Cecilia McGuinness, Sean Flannery, Caoimhe NiMhuruchu, Pauric Deery, Brian Sexton and Jonathan Fahy. See the photo of Tommy outside the "b&b" for an idea of conditions. With Belmullet being a long drive from town and a Friday night sign-on the club arrived the night before, opting for bed and breakfast accommodation before the race, with the exception of Pauric and Sandra who stayed in the team HQ (campervan) and Tommy and Jason who used the (Ford) transit motel near the transition area. At about five am on race morning the wind picked up with strong gusts and heavy rain, which would set the tone for the race itself.

Following a two hour wait in heavy rain the race began on the 500m out, 1000m across beach to pier course. Stewart used his swimming skills to storm the (slightly shortened) course in 19 minutes flat, closely followed by Jason, Caoimhe, Cecilia and Eamonn. Unfortunately Cecilia suffered a puncture at the start of the bike section which put and an end to what looked like a strong performance. Meanwhile Eamonn rode up through the field to a top ten finish with Stewart and Tommy also using the bike section to gain ground. The run section took in the trademark dunes which sapped the energy of competitors before the descent into Blacksod pier. The club had three finishers (Eamonn, Stewart and Brian) in the top twenty as was the case with Eamonn, Gary and Colm in the last national series race in Lough Key. With Eamonn improving in every race, and a back to form post Ironman rest Stewart, it is only a matter of time before the club gets a podium placing in one of these events. The event has a reputation of being one of the toughest in the country and lived up to this on the day, however this did not stop club members posting strong performances, all coming home well into the top 50% of this final national series race of the season. Full results are on the Triathlon Ireland website, well done to all who travelled.

Blackrock Lighthouse Swim

Well done to all club members who took part in today's Blackrock Lighthouse Swim.
Conditions were a little misty with moderate winds and the swimmers took advantage of the channel on the way out. The swim back was more challenging with lots of currents to contend with and difficult sighting. Club member Rory O'Connor took second place with Shane O'Doherty first ashore. Niall Melvin put in a strong swim to finish well up the field and John Hanly completed his first 5km swim. There was a consensus that the swim was tougher than the strandhill swim due to the currents. Thanks to Paul Rennick and Water Safety for running what was a tough but enjoyable event. The swim may be from Innismurray to Streedagh next year

Swim Fins for Coached Sessions

For the coached swim sessions we're all going to need to use swim training fins. They're different to the ones you might use for snorkelling/diving in that they're shorter and more flexible and don't require booties like some diving ones.
They're essential for some of the drills we will be doing. I've used a few over the years and found the TYR split fins to be the most durable, comfortable and functional of the lot.

If you have your fins from last year then you don't need to get any, but for anyone who does need some i recommend these. Normally you'd buy a size smaller than shoe size to give a good fit and they will stretch a little with use.

Our friends in Chain Driven Cycles in Sligo Town are getting in some TYR fins next week. I don't have their price yet but they will do a 10% discount for club members. I'd encourage people to get them there as Stephen has sponsored amongst other things the bike time trials and made wet suits available for the fitting session we did in April. As a club we like to keep our money local, it's grand buying stuff on the net but our club will never get sponsorship from a website.

www.chaindrivencycles.com

Early Morning Sunday Swim?

The club is looking to gauge interest in a Sunday morning coached swimming session, similar to those taking place on Tuesdays and Fridays. It would start the same week and run for 12 weeks.
We would have a qualified swim coach running the sessions with a video analysis session during the term.

The proposed session would take place in the Avina pool in Ballysadare at 8am on Sunday mornings which may not suit some people but if it's something you'd like to do contact sligotriathlon@gmail.com with "Sunday Swim" in the email header. If there are sufficient numbers we will run the session.

North Channel Swim Report

Club member Kieran Fitzgerald recently formed part of the support crew for Annemarie Ward's successful north channel swim. This invovles swimming from Ireland to Scotland and is as daunting as it sounds with only 10 crossings to date. It's rated as more difficult than the English Channel which puts it into perpective, it really is a massive achievement reported in the national press and further. The main challenges are the low water temperature, currrents and jellyfish which can be found in massive numbers in those waters. Swimmers cannot wear wetsuits and rely on grease (goose fat i think) to provide some insulation.

Thanks to Kieran for providing this insight for the blog.
"7.20 am-Met with Annemarie and her team in the Clarion Hotel in Carrickfergus and had some breakfast.

7.50am-Made our way down to the harbour and started loading gear and supplies on to the ‘lucky lizzy’ the main boat and the two ribs.

8.10am- Left Carrickfergus harbour on route to’ The Gobbins’, north of Belfast Lough. The crew and boats for the swim consisted of

RIB 1 Ryan Ward and Noel Brennan.

RIB2 Derek Flanagan and Joseph Devenney.

‘Lucky Lizzy’ Gus O Driscoll, Ivan Irwin, Brendan Proctor and myself.

Sea conditions ideal, not a ripple to be seen! Water 12.9 degrees. Sky a bit misty, air temp. 12 degrees at a guess.

Annemarie starts to grease up.

8.25am-Arrive at ‘The Gobbins ’ .The good news is there are no jellies to be seen!!

8.30am- Annemarie crosses to Rib 2 which will take her to the rocks where she will start.

8.34am- Annemarie enters the water and swims approx. 15 meters to shore

8.36-Annmarie touches the shoreline and waves, THE SWIM BEGINS!!!!!!!!

9.00am-Stroke rate 62

9.35am-1st feed , 2 and a half scoops of ‘High Five’ to 500ml of water, all well!!

9.45am-stroke rate 63

10.35am-2nd feed, all ok .Conditions very still, but no sun yet. Full six hours of tide with Annemarie starting.

11-00am- Stroke rate 63.

11.35am- feed, 7km covered from shore.

12.05pm-stroke rate 64.

12.35pm-feed. Mouth wash this time also.9.25km covered. Sun comes out!

12.48pm-stroke rate 63.

1.37pm-feed, all well. A few jellies around!

1.55pm- 62 stroke rate.

2.35pm-feed Annemarie in good form, crew inform her that all is going to plan

3.00pm-stroke rate 62

3.36pm-feed, with mouth wash. Annemarie fine.

4.00pm-stroke rate 63, water temp 13.3degrees, slight south easterly wind.

4.38pm-feed, Tide starts to turn against Annemarie

4.46pm-Gus informs me that 11.76 nautical miles from shore,8.24 nautical miles to go!!

5.16pm- 62 strokes per minute.

5.35pm-feed.

5.53pm-stroke rate 63

5.58pm-Annemarie ups stroke rate to 68!!!!!

6.35pm-feed.

6.58pm-stroke rate 68!!!

7.35pm-feed. Crew ask Annemarie to slow stroke rate!!!!Brendan asks Annemarie to leave ‘some in the tank for later’. Starting to drift north of Portpatrick, due to tide.

8.35pm-feedwith mouth wash. Getting dark Noel enters the water to put two light sticks on Annemarie. Derek put two light sticks on side of rib. Annemarie asks to change feeds to every 45 minutes. Worst of strong tide against Annemarie over Still 5.3 nautical miles to go.

9.20pm-All ok 4.6nm to go, starting to make progress.

9.58pm- Batch of jellies some big, Ryan acts as lookout with whistle.

10.12pm- feed. 3.58 nm to go. Brendan Proctor makes us some welcome soup!!

10.55pm-feed. Told Annemarie only 3nm to go.

11.00pm- Stroke rate goes up 66 strokes per minute.

11.40pm- feed. 2.6nm to go. Stroke rate 62.

12.25am- feed 2nm to go, Annemarie in good form. Stroke rate 62.

1.10am- feed, a few jellies around!1.3nm to go.

1.40am- feed.

2.13am-last feed, .75nm to go!!!!! 60 strokes per minute.

2.53am- Another feed, .4 nm to go, talking a little longer than expected.

3.00am- Ryan, brother of Annemarie enters water with light stick attached, not long now!

3.30am-Nearly there , approx. 100m to go. Beam lights are shining to guide Annemarie and Ryan.

3.36am-Annemarie finally clears water and waves to the boat. THE SWIM IS OVER!!!!ANNEMARIE NOW JOINS ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST EXCLUSIVE CLUBS.

3.42am-A delighted Annemarie, is helped firstly onto a rib and then onto the Lucky Lizzy’, for the journey back to Carrickfergus.

Job completed time 18hrs59min26 sec. one heck of a swim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KIERAN FITZGERALD I.L.D.S.A OBSERVER.

CHAINDRIVEN TT - League final results.

A chara

The league winners final results are below for each division. They are based on your best six events plus 20 points for marshaling. You must of participated in a least one hill climb to score off six events. The presentation of prizes will take place at the end of season awards night/AGM. The date will be decided at the next club meeting.

Ladies (2 prizes)

1st) Cecilia Mc Guiness 79
2nd) Kate Hawney 73

Rookies and Novices (3 prizes)

1st) Ciaran Clancy (MSC Tri) 78
2nd) Ronan Brennan 69
3rd) Neil Dwyer (68)

Intermediates (4 prizes)

1st) Tommy Sheirdan 75
2nd) Decaln Byrne 72 (Sligo AC)
3rd) Trevor Hunter 66 (Sligo AC)
4th) John Walsh 57

Seniors (6 prizes)

1st) Micheal Devins 80 (Eire og)
2nd) Alex Carey 64 (Eire og)
3rd) Brian Sexton 62
4th) Colm Casey 61
5th) Sean Flanery/ Stephen Mullane 60 (Wheelers)

The prizes will be a combination of trophies, vouchers (chain driven) and cycling equipment. No cash prizes.

Mountain Rescue Team Recruitment

Sligo/Leitrim Mountain Rescue are recruiting new members. The survival and rescue training provided would be a serious advantage for anyone going down the adventure racing side of multisport racing. Club member Conal Sexton is the training officer and judging by the way he runs uphill joining the rescue team is a good way of getting in some conditioning. They will be wrapping up the recruitment soon and training for the new recruits will begin next month.

If you like hill walking, enjoy the outdoors and are able to volunteer your time, they'd love to hear from you.

Check out their website www.sligoleitrimmrt.ie to see what it is all about.
Email info@sligoleitrimmrt
Call 087-1798484 to request an application form

Registration for Lighthouse Swim

Paul Rennick from Water Safety will be at tomorrows swim session (8th September) at 6:15pm at Rosses Point. This will be the final opportunity for anyone planning on taking part in the lighthouse swim to pay the entry fee and confirm participation.

This event is to raise funds for the Sligo Surf Lifesaving Team and is a Water Safety (Sligo Branch) organised event. The swim is approximately 5km and will take place on Saturday 18th 9am at Rosses Point beach.

More details on the swim at
http://sligotriathlon.blogspot.com/2010/08/blackrock-lighthouse-swim.html
or contact Paul at paulrennick@gmail.com

Level 1 Coaching Course

Triathlon Ireland are offering a Level 1 coaching course in Dublin towards the end of September.

http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=44

If club members are interested in becoming a coach please register early on Runireland. Once you have registered contact Cecelia or Colm for a letter confirming that the club has nominated you. There is a reduced rate for club nominated applicants. If the club nominates a club member you will be expected to give back an agreed number of free coaching hours to club over the winter.

If you are interested in becoming a coach check the link above for more information. This is an ideal opportunity for club members interested in coaching. You dont have to be an existing coach or coaching within in the club.

Thanks

Colm

Splash and Dash Aquathon - Enniscrone

Our friends in Liquid Motion are running an end of season aquathon see below for details:


"The Splash and Dash is an Aquathon race comprising of a 1k swim followed by a 8k run. It will take place in Enniscrone, Co Sligo which is a popular seaside town just outside of Ballina. Start time 6pm with registration from 5-5:45pm.

All competitors can register on the day beside transition which is located at the Pier. The cost for entry is €10.

There will be prizes for the top three male and female competitors which will be handed out at the prize giving cermoney in Gilroys Bar on the Main Street.

For more details contact liquidmotiontriathlonclub@gmail.com"

Old School Swim Weds

Following on from the success of the old school bike time trial, we're going to do a fun wetsuitless or skin swim on Weds evening at the normal time on Weds (meet up 6:15pm)

This means togs, goggles and hats only.

Water is lovely now, pretty much peaked for the year (picture for illustrative purposes only!)

We will all go together from halfway down the 2nd beach, it's only a bit of fun, not a time trial or times being taken or anything like that. The open water sessions will be winding down from now on so this is a chance to go out with a bang for the year

Look back at the old photos of the sligo metalman events from the 80's and not a wetsuit in sight.

See you all there.

Registration for Winter Swim Sessions - Mon 6th Sept

Winter swim training kicks off on Tues 21st September.
Sessions are Tues 9:50pm & Friday 7pm, both in Sligo Regional Sports Complex.

Registration will be on Monday 6th September at Rosses Point from 6pm with a sea swim afterwards for anyone interested. Shane will be beside the “beachery” building carrying out registration which is at the top of the main beach car park.

You need to be a current member of the club to take part and full payment of €80 for the 12 week term will secure your place.
You cannot secure a place without full payment, no exceptions.
Places will be assigned on a first come first serve basis.

If you took part in the swim sessions last year it does not mean you have an automatic place this year. Places can’t be booked before Monday to be fair to all members so please don’t ask.

The places are going to go quickly so please make sure to get there on time.

2010 Gael Force West

Thanks to Catherine McGlinchey for the following report from this years Gael Force West adventure race -Catherine completed the gruelling event in under seven hours. Adventure racing adds a new dimension (and a lot more endurance) to multi sport racing; for anyone tempted by this insight there is another event in November being organized by this years gael Force winner, Pauric Marrey (2010 sea2summit).

Approx Distance: 14km run; 2km kayak; 3.5km run; 34km cycle; ascent and descent of Croagh Patrick; 12.5km cycle; 800m sprint to finish.

I found the silence on the 7.30am shuttle bus to Killary pretty intimidating, as was the sight of carbo gels taped in “quick-draw” position on the athletes’ bagstraps. When the start horn blew for wave 6 athletes at 9.25am however, there was a friendly cheer of relief. The waiting was over and we were off on our very own Gael Force Challenge (would we survive?). The weather was ideal; cool and dry with the prospect of some sun and we (Cathy Kilcoyne, Sligo Tri, Claire Donegan and I) were optimistic.

Stage 1 of the race starts with a gentle, rolling road run from Glassillaun Beach heading for the southern shores of Killary Harbour, Ireland’s largest natural fjord. From there we ran a rough but relatively flat mountain path with steep drops into the harbour. We were in the shadow of the majestic Mweelrea mountain, Connaght’s highest, so the views were spectacular. As we turned from the path onto the road heading south east, we got more fantastic views of the Twelve Bens and Maumturks. But we had to concentrate on our first stage goal – the kayak port at the harbour 13.9km from our starting point. Once there, we timed out and had a relaxing 10min queue for an open double kayak to become available, a good time for the squashed banana carbo loading. If you’ve tried kayaking before, you can’t really go wrong and would expect to be across the harbour in approx 8-10 mins. Having said that, some athletes struggled to kayak straight and took a zig-zagging ‘scenic route’!

Stage 3 involved a wet and boggy 3km run up to the main Leenane to Louisburgh road and a short flat road run into transition at Delphi Adventure Centre. Unlike the transition of a sprint triathlon where speed and urgency pervade the area, Delphi was calm and relaxed with some athletes picnicking as we passed through. Maybe it was because we were in the jogger category – the elites no doubt fly through. On the bike, the weather started to change and dark clouds rolled in off Mweelrea. Luckily a tail wind blew us and the hailstones through the first part of stage 4 – up the valley between Ben Gorm and the Sheeffry Hills. After a long, slow and sometimes steep ascent, there was a short, winding, wet descent. As I rode down the hill, a cyclist was being straight-jacketed into an ambulance having crashed the barrier at the dangerous bend at the bottom. I was glad I hadn’t followed him or her, but it could have happened to anyone. The onward cycle to Drummin and Liscarney was a straightforward, scenic cycle, though littered with puncture repairing athletes and a couple of walkers whose bikes had packed up. The tailwind we’d enjoyed earlier now became our headwind across the bleak, open bog section of rough ‘road’ up to Croagh Patrick. This was a new route section for 2010 and my key goal was to get across the bog without a puncture rather than with speed. I was lucky, though I’m sure many got caught as the stony surface was awful.

Croagh Patrick was a daunting prospect when I arrived at its foothills. I was craving some real food after five hours of racing, and envied the sensible people who had packed a thick sandwich for this transition. I saved my snickers bar for the top and set off plodding up the mountain (at this point “raced” seems a bit far-fetched). It took me an hour to ascend and half that to descend, but it was the most stressful part of the day. It’s a dangerous path and the continuous erosion means it takes a lot of concentration on the cone not to slip, or sprain an ankle, or send rolling stones down on people especially children climbing up. It’s hard to imagine the elites get up and down averaging about 40 mins! It was a relief to get off and back onto the bike for the final stage of cycling. This involved a varied terrain of mountain path and then good road into Westport Quays. The mountain path was quite frankly impassable on anything but a mountain bike even though it was dry. I admit I wasn’t going to risk wrecking my brand new, not long out of the box Merida road racer for 3km of speed, so I just ran like hell, fired on by the end being nigh. I enjoyed a speedy downhill, where a raucous cheer from Una Mannion and family sent me off on the main road with a gleeful heart, I was nearly there. It was a smooth cycle and I soon hit the Quays where we paraded around the green looking out for family and friends as we headed to the finish. The atmosphere was great, with cheering and people milling around, but it was onwards and outwards as far as The Point, away from the crowd and into the final transition area where we dropped our bikes. As if we hadn’t done enough, we’d to run a final 800mts cross country to reach the real finish line back at the Quays. Phew! What a relief and what a great feeling! I’d had a super day and it was fantastic to meet the family, Cathy and Conor, Claire and Mike and club members Una, Mary Eg, Jackie and Cecilia at the finish.

So would I recommend Gael Force West to any of our club triathletes? Absolutely, you’d love it. It’s challenging, exciting, tough and varied, with fantastic scenery to spur you on. I know other club members did the race this year and many raced with greater speed than I, to their credit. The winning times were spectacular with first male in at 3:36:51 and first female in at 4.15.52. But as someone new to tri, new to adventure racing and with a completion time of nearly 7 hours I will say, it’s a great race which is within everyone’s grasp… and they’re taking bookings for the 2011 Gael Force this September. Go on, rise to the challenge!!

Grange 10km - Sunday 3rd October

Details below, registration is on the day in the Grange Sports Complex.
For anyone not familiar with the area, Grange is 10-15 mins drive north of Sligo town.


"Grange 10k Road Race is a well established race in the North Sligo village of Grange. The course is a very fast one, with good pb potential. All are welcome with registration taking place from 12 noon in the Sports Complex in Grange. The race starts and finishes in the village, with refreshments in the Sports Complex afterwards, as well as prize giving with prizes in the usual categories"

http://www.runireland.com/events/grange-10k