The season is just about to end and there are only a few races left on the triathlon calendar. So what do we do now? Well before you take your well deserved break please join us in Shanganagh park for the WTC family day.

The family day will take place on the 19th September at 2pm. Meet at the main car park to the left of the cemetery. This will consist of a childrens duathlon, with medals for the winners and a few games of rounders for the adults, all followed by a club BBQ which will be provided with compliments of the club. If you have friends and family you would like to bring along, please do. Just inform us at info@wicklowtri.com so we can ensure we have enough food to go around.

If your child is planning on taking part in the duathlon, please make sure you bring along a helmet and a bike for each athlete. 

A flyer was sent out to all club members last week, please forward to anyone you think might be interested in joining us. 

Active Recovery - By Coach Simon Ward

With Offical Wicklow Tri Training now on hold till Mid October it's time to think of the End of season break. Do athletes need it?

Just in case you were thinking of getting straight back into training for next year, here is the BTA reasoning on why you should have a few weeks of active recovery.

The Kenyan Runners swear by it - 'Nearly every Kenyan Runner rests starting the month of October, with most not resuming training until December or January' (Tanser 1997), yet top triathletes now look to race almost all year long combining an Australian & European season back to back.

This is also seen at club level with many multidiscipline athletes (especially juniors) under pressure to compete for their running club in X-Country and swim in galas throughout the winter. Many athletes will go straight from the Triathlon season at the end of September/ October straight into X-Country, mountain biking and Masters swimming events.

For the following reasons it might be wise to take a break:

Read on for more:

Well it was another glorious night out in Bray for the final race in the Amphibian King WTC Aquathon Series.  As always the weather god’s smiled on us as the rain cleared away and the sun came out for the evenings racing.  It was a tough race with a very (I have to acknowledge very) challenging swim followed by a 2 lap run of the promenade.   

In the ladies race it was once again Aoife O’Connor who was in flying form with nearly a 2min lead over her nearest rival in 33:01 , so it was then a close battle for 2^nd and 3^rd between Aoife Lynch and Linda Clarke with Aoife pulling out a fantastic run to snatch 2^nd in 35:15. 

In the men’s race it was Jesse Tomas from the US who stole the show with an amazing win in 27:43 ahead of Wyne Reid in 29:30 and Wicklow Tri’s own Scott Graham in 30:52, all fantastic times taking into account the long swim.  

So in the overall series battle it was Aoife O’Connor and Eoin McDonald who were crowned champions for 2010 after some great consistent performances over the series. 

All that is left to say is a big thank you to all our racers, supporters, Amphibian King, The Irish Coast Guard, Bray Sailing Club, The Martello Bar, our kayaking team and all the WTC members  - you are all legends and we hope to see you all again next year 

Sorry Guy's had the results filed as Admin, have fixed it now so everyone should be able to download the results now ;-) 

For Provisional Results please Click HERE 

Many Thanks 

Deborah Meghen and Brendan Mannix

Race Directors 2010

Well it’s here the last race in the 2010 Amphibian King Aquathon Series and we are looking forward to another cracking race. 

So as always just a few reminders, firstly as the nights are closing in we would ask people to try and get out early so that we can get the race underway at 7:30, registration will be open from 6pm till 7 in the Martello Bar opposite the bandstand on Bray Seafront. 

For those who have not yet registered for the race it would be great if you could do so online as it speeds up registration on the night, though as throughout this series there will be limited registration available on the night but to guarantee your spot please register before 7pm on Tuesday night at http://www.activeglobal.com/ie/aquathlon/wicklow-ireland/wicklow-tri-amphibian-king-aquathlon-race-series-2010 or click on the aquathon button above. 

Finally we hope everyone will stay around for some soup and sambo’s prior to the final prize giving and perhaps join us for a well earned pint in the Martello bar after the race. We look forward to seeing you all on the night 

Deborah and Brendan

Race Directors

We will have a swim bike run transition session (a mini tri really) this Monday 9^th August at the Open Water Swim Session in Wicklow Harbour. The swim session usually starts at 7.30pm, but you will need to get there early to set up your stuff.

Rolling out of bed at 5.30am on a Sunday morning is a disorientating experience especially when the norm involves crashing onto a couch at some stranger’s house at the same time after a night of drunken antics. When the realisation dawns as to why your alarm clock has roused you from your slumber so early a panic begins to take hold. ‘Why on earth did you put yourself forward for the daunting challenge of tackling the notorious 53 Degrees North Beast of the East, by far the toughest triathlon on the Irish calendar? At least you can drown your painful screams in the watery depths of Lough Dan, but the precipitous climbs of the cycle and run offer no such solace.’

We approached the event from a downwind direction so as not to alert the Beast tothe scent of our fear. Keeping a low profile also gave us an exit strategy inthe very likely scenario that we should wither and falter in the shadow of the hulking mountains. Descending from the Sally gap into the belly of the monster we sighted the black waters of Lough Dan. The lake sat in an amphitheatre-like bowl, a fitting stage to commence the battle with the Beast. With an early 9am start the competitors had a ‘right aul head’ on them, hair still matted totheir scalps from just lifting it from a delightfully comfortable and feathery pillow. As usual the body language of all conveyed a mixed bag of emotions –some individuals smiled wryly at the black waters of the lake lapping at their feet as if to say “Do your worst”, while others bowed their heads slightly, inpartial submission to the ominous looking clouds shrouding over the mountaintops. 

 For some great photos's of the first two races check out the following links and the Martello on facebook.

Race 1 http://gallery.me.com/andrewcummins#100073

Race 2 http://gallery.me.com/andrewcummins#100066

Well the weather god's were smiling once agian on Bray Seafornt as round two of the 2010 WTC Aquathon series got underway.  With flooding in Dublin, Bray got away with a little rain that cleared just before the start of the race and then the sun even came out to cheer everyone on. 

 Again this was another great race with plenty of compeition especially in the ladies race where Lizzy Lee was back from Cork to defend her title from last year with an outstanding run beating Aoife O'Connor into second place in a time of 31:57.  In third it was Linda Clarke who is new to mulit sport this year but put in a fantasic performance coming in just ahead of Bronagh Ni Bhriain.  As this race was part of the Tri Start Series and proudly sponsored by The Irish Sports Council's Women In Sport it was fantastic to see so many new women racing on the night.

In the mens race it was Stephen Early in a great time of 28:37 who stormed home nealry two minutes ahead of his nearest rival Eoin Mc Donald who raced home in 30:28 closely followed by Aidan Murphy in third.

Again WTC would like to send out a big thanks to our main sponsor Damien McKeever of Amphibian King, Women in Sports and Tracey in the Wicklow Local Sports Partnership Group for all there support.  A very special thnaks has to go out to the Martello Bar for the brilliant Soup and Sambo's which I think everyone will agree were very welcome (Check out the martello online at there facebook page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/themartello?v=wall ) and also Bray Sailing Club, the Irish Coast Guard and all our marshalls on the night.

For results please Click HERE if there are any errors please send an email to info@wicklowtri.com and we will update the results.

Yes, you read it right. The 2010 Tri-suits have arrived. Lets hope they will be a lot quicker when you are racing in them, than they were getting here.....

I will be around in Wicklow all week and at the Aquathon Wednesday evening and will have them with me for collection. Otherwise drop up to my place in Wicklow. I have extra Tri-suits but its a first come first served basis for those not pre-ordered. Contact me on nicolon34@gmail.com

Brick Sessions will start at 7.30pm, Tuesday 13th July at Greystones Rugby Club Car Park. 

You are well into your race season and you need to be focusing on your racing performance. You have done the swim training, you have done your bike training and you have done your run training. You are now as good as you are going to get in those individual disciplines, you now need to put them all together. Brick sessions are  predominantly bike to run sessions, but can be swim to bike, swim to run or other combinations.  You should all be doing sessions like this which try to replicate race conditions, at this time of the season to keep you race sharp.