Irish Training Camp a Success
Pentathlon Ireland successful hosted their first international riding camp last week with several international Olympic hopefuls praising the level of training on offer.
Athletes trained twice daily for the riding event under the guidance of coach Eva Hutchinson. Hutchinson, whose son Michael is an international show jumper based in Dubai, admitted being nervous of prospect of working with pentathletes prior to the camp due to her background in show jumping coaching.
She was however, full of admiration and praise of the multi-eventers by the end of the training camp. "These are a group of remarkable athletes who have worked very hard over the last six days. I really admire what these athletes are trying to do; it's not an easy thing and takes a lot of determination and commitment. The improvements have been impressive and I wish them all luck for London 2012," she said.
Athletes reciprocated their praise of Hutchinson's coaching, citing it as a most enjoyable experience and one that they'd like to repeat. 2010 World Championship bronze medalist, Justinas Kinderis from Lithuania stated: "I'm sure that it will help me in London".
Pentathlon Ireland's Performance Director Lindsey Weedon was quick to acknowledge all who were involved in making the riding camp a success: "Kilkenny was a great place to bring the athletes and really enjoyed staying at the Club House Hotel; they were all raving about the food. Warrington Equestrian Centre have fantastic facilities and horses and they couldn't have been more accommodating to our needs."
Plans to develop a pentathlon training facility at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown are currently being considered and Weedon is keen to generate an interest amongst the international pentathlon community - "We hope that the success of this riding camp will mean more athletes want to come to train in Ireland in the future and especially in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic Games."
Athletes also made use of the facilities at the Watershed Leisure Centre where they trained for swimming and fencing events. Pentathlon Ireland's own Olympic hopeful, Natalya Coyle was able to benefit from the training for fencing with high-level international athletes.
Athletes in attendance of the training camp were:
- Stefan Kollner (GER) World Ranking 16th
- Justinas Kinderis (LTU) World Ranking 18th
- Thomas Daniel (AUT) World Ranking 19th
- Ruslan Nakonechnyi (UKR) World Ranking 51st
- Yuliya Kolegova (RUS) World Ranking 26th