Trilaois 2010
The 2010 triathlon season began in Portlaoise last Saturday with TriLaois. The event, in its second year, was again blessed with great weather and seven athletes from the club took part. This was a sprint triathlon with a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run. Unfortunately, Keith Butler and Brian O'Rourke were unable to take part due to illness and injury.
The first two club members into the water in the second wave of swimmers were Kevin Sherlock and Graham O'Keeffe. Kevin's performances have been improving steadily over the last few years and he was looking forward to this race in order to lay down a marker for the season ahead. It proved to be a successful day for Kevin, finishing 13th and smashing his time for last year's event by six and a half minutes. Graham was another who was happy with his performance. A crowded lane meant he was slowed down during his swim but he recovered to finish in a very creditable 26th place. Both men can look forward with great confidence to a competitive summer of racing.
Brendan Delaney and Ciaran Moran were in Wave 7. Brendan was pleased with his swim time and with cycling being his favourite discipline, another strong showing on the bike set him up for a good overall time. Ciaran was also happy to get this triathlon under his belt and use the experience in upcoming races.
The final and fastest wave saw Shane Scully and Ailbhe Carroll begin their triathlon racing season. Due to a technical problem, both athletes swam fifty metres longer than the 750m race distance and this meant that they were at a disadvantage getting out of the pool. However, both battled well during the rest of the race and were able to peg back competitors. Shane finished in a an excellent time of 1:01, which saw him take third place. Ailbhe was first in her age category. She was also representing UL in the national intervarsities and managed to take 1st place.
Congratulations to all athletes for doing themselves and the club proud.