2013 Season Review

Talented
young athletes turning to triathlon

Triathlon Ireland’s most recent junior talent identification day, which
seeks out 14 – 23 year olds with a competitive swim and run background,
attracted over 60 applications.

National level swimmers and runners are spotting an opportunity in a sport
where Irish athletes can not only compete with, but beat the rest of the world.
Inspired by the likes of Aileen Reid, who recently claimed Silver in front of a
viewing audience of 41 million at the World Triathlon Series Grand Final, young
athletes have been turning to triathlon to achieve their Olympic dreams. The
National Junior Squad has swelled from 6 athletes in 2013 to an impressive 17
for the 2014 season, all reaching a standard benchmarked off the very best
development programs in the world.

Along with increased interest from talented juniors, membership of the
governing body, Triathlon Ireland has continued to show strong growth, up 15%
to 8450 by the end of the 2013 season. The number of affiliated clubs has risen
from 71 to 83 in order to cater for the demand, with clubs now dotted around
every region in the country. If there is no club nearby there will surely be a
local race as the Triathlon Ireland calendar boasted over 170 triathlons,
aquathlons and duathlons in 2013.

With Triathlon Ireland sanctioned races across all corners of the country,
45% of members said they raced more in 2013 than the previous year while two
thirds plan to do between 4 and 10 races in 2014. A dedicated 8% are aiming to
clock up more than 11 triathlons in 2014 which is an impressive total
considering the nature of the event.

Over 26 clubs now cater for junior athletes who have been taking part in the
newly established ‘Kids Tri Series’ along with Youth & Junior National
Championships and the uber competitive Junior National Series.

The male to female split stands at 70:30 with the majority of triathlon
competitors in the 35-39 years age group. The oldest regular competitor is aged
71 and completes in Sprint and Olympic distance events but also the 3.8k swim,
180k bike and 42.2k run - Ironman distance.

2013 saw a number of famous faces competing in triathlons throughout the
year. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar completed his
first triathlon in the National Aquatic Centre in Fingal and went on to do
another in Athy later in the season.

“The swim went well and the run along the canal was lovely” commented the
Minister. “But I need to work on my bike, people just kept passing me on the
hills.”

Dublin Lord Major, Oisin Quinn is another fan of triathlon having competed
in a number of races throughout 2013. He finished his season off at the
Vodafone Dublin City triathlon which attracted 1000 competitors and takes place
in the Phoenix Park every year.

Voice of Ireland judge Niall 'Bressie' Breslin was another first timer as he took on the Audi Two Provinces
Triathlon, finishing in a very respectable 1:22:56 for the 750m swim, 20k bike
and 5k run. Not satisfied with the sprint distance, Bressie has his sights set
on Ironman Lanzarote in 2015 with a half Ironman as a stepping stone in 2014.

Model Rozanna Purcell is another familiar face to have dipped
her toe into the world of triathlon at the Kilkenny race back in July.

In 2013 Triathlon Ireland reached a number of significant
milestones. What’s through to be the largest ever team to represent Ireland
travelled to the World Championships in London where 277 elite and age group
athletes acquitted themselves brilliantly alongside 40 other nations. Amongst
the squad for the first time were 4 paratriathletes, marking a significant step
in the process of qualifying a team for the Paralympic Games in Rio.

Elite triathlon racing also returned to Ireland for the first time since
2010 with Waterways triAthlone hosting the ETU Junior European Cup. Triathlon
Ireland’s Junior Squad athletes did not disappoint the home crowd claiming no
less than 3 medals in the men’s and women’s race. Senior athletes were also at
the top of their game in 2013 with Aileen Reid finishing the season ranked 7th
in the world and Bryan Keane becoming the first Irishman to podium in a World
Cup. Not to be outdone Olympian Gavin Noble won his debut Ironman 70.3 race and
stood on the podium alongside fellow Irish athlete Eimear Mullan who happened
to win the women’s race.

Chris Kitchen, CEO of Triathlon Ireland commented:

“2013 has been a hugely
successful year for Triathlon Ireland. It was fantastic to see such a large and
talented team travelling to the World Championships where Aileen picked up a
brilliant silver at the Grand Final and our Age Groupers flew the flag and also
won a number of medals.”

“With the Commonwealth Games taking
place in Glasgow in 2014 it’s another opportunity for our athletes to shine on
the world stage.”

“But
it is not all about our elite athletes, anyone who does a triathlon is a star
in my book and anyone can do it. Of course it’s challenging but it is
achievable, so set some goals for 2014 that include a triathlon, there are
loads of great clubs who will welcome people along and loads of
well organised events, including try a tri, women’s only, sprint and super
sprint distances designed for first timers.”