Last Saturday morning when most of their peers were still tucked up in bed five swimmers from the club took part in the last Muckno Triathlon of the season.  The event started with a 750m swim followed by a 20k cycle and a 5k run. A junior event was also run at the same time. Colin Gorman and Oran McGee took part in the full triathlon, while Emily Madden, Orla Young and Leon Campbell completed the junior event.  It was Orla and Leon first time competing in a triathlon.  The Sliabh Beagh swimmers showed their strength in the pool with Colin and Oran first and second out of the water, followed closely by Orla, Emily and Leon. Colin had an excellent transition from pool to bike and got a head start on Oran out on the road.  Oran fought back strongly and closed the gap before the boys reached the Castleblayney Rd. The weather conditions were far from ideal with biting wind and rain making the going tough!  The boys got back to the last leg of the triathlon, the 5k run, still in first and second place.  It took alot of will power at this stage to complete the run, but Colin and Oran worked hard to cross the line in a deserving joint first position.  Meanwhile in the junior event again the weather made conditions difficult especially for the cycle from The Four Seasons Hotel to the turnaround point on the Castleblayney Rd. The cyclists returned to the transition point and were delighted to get off their bikes with fingers and legs numb with the cold and rain.  As they headed out the Emyvale Rd for the final part of the triathlon the 3k run, the sun started to break through.  This was a welcome sight for the athletes with Orla finished strong in first position with plenty left in the tank!  Emily came in second and Leon third place.  Presentation of prizes took place after the event in The Four Seasons Hotel. Sliabh Beagh would like to thank the members of The Muckno Tri Club especially Dessie and Fiona Duffy and Cornelia Connolly for their encouragement and support to our swimmers on the day.  Hopefully we are looking at some future triathletes! Well done everyone! 

ULSTER MASTERS GALA

Last Saturday The Ulster Masters Gala was held in Lagan Valley Leisure Complex Lisburn.  Peter O’Hara represented the club in the gala.  He swam in the following events; 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 50 Fly and 100 Fly.  Peter was the fastest overall swimmer in 4 of these events, just being edged out by a Polish swimmer into Silver position in the 50 Freestyle.  Peter’s times were on his PB’s but as he has been spending more time in the GAA pitch over the last 5 weeks than in the pool he is happy with his times and results.

ULSTER SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Next weekend commencing on Friday 15 Nov and terminating on 17 Nov 2013 the Ulster Short course championships take place at Bangor Aurora Centre. Nine club swimmers are entered in this gala. This will be a tough test and will give all swimmers and coaches an indication of how we are managing this early in the season. Balancing capacity work with speed work can be a difficult mix and we are hoping that having put our emphasis on capacity rather than racing speed will not see us coming up too short in competition this early in the season.

If we produce some Personal Best times then we will be happy, anything else will be a bonus. However our focus is on April and beyond.  However, what the coaches do want to see, is the execution of the technical elements such as stroke length, rotation, turns, breakouts and holding the pace across the swim distance.  Here there are no excuses as they are critical and must be embedded early in the season, in order to achieve quality performances later.

Swimmers attending the Ulster Short Course Championship are; A. Leonard, R. Delaney, D. Coll, N. Shields, S. McGahon, J. McShane, C. Deasy, C. McGahon, M. McShane.  GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!