Dedicated Derry athlete stays focused on Olympic target

It was back in June when she spoke to The Irish Times that Aileen Morrison conceded what most of the rest of us had already been thinking - triathletes are crazy. "It's such a ridiculous sport, really," she said. "Six or seven hours a day. Not just of swimming, cycling and running. But the gym work as well. On a Monday, Wednesday and Friday it could be four sessions a day. And then the sacrifices. I've almost entirely given up tea. I would have had 10 cups a day. I just love tea and a bun."

So, why give up the best things in life, like tea and buns? "Because we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it," she said. And life without tea and buns has paid off for Morrison. Handsomely. Go to her list of results at the International Triathlon Union website and you'll get an idea of how the 29-year-old Derry woman has consistently excelled in her sport over the last year, in particular.

She completed the year with her best ever result at international level when she finished second at a World Cup event in South Korea last month. In her two previous outings in the World Championship series, she finished fourth in Mexico and Japan. Those results lifted her to 15th in the international rankings and, this week, in the newly released Olympic qualifying list, she is up to 11th.

Fifty-five women qualify for London 2012, and even if she doesn't compete in any further qualifying events between now and next August, Morrison is guaranteed to remain in the top 55. She can, then - barring injury - put London in her diary for next year. She would follow in the footsteps of Emma Davis, a previous monthly award winner, who was Ireland's first triathlon representative in Beijing in 2008. There'll be no return to tea and buns, though, over the coming months.

Through the winter Morrison, who receives funding from Sport Northern Ireland and the Irish Sports Council, will train with Maryland Wheelers Cycling Club, City of Lisburn swim club and at the Sports Institute in Jordanstown. Swimming was her first sport, Morrison mastering the art in and around Malin Head where her family spent many a summer. By the time she was at Jordanstown, where she trained as a PE teacher, she had added cycling and running to her repertoire, winning the National Triathlon Championships in 2007. A year later she was competing as a full-time professional.

Come August, she'll hope to be one of the competitors in Hyde Park, where just a 1,500m swim, a seven-lap, 40km bike ride and a four-lap, 10km run stands between her and a medal. Say it quickly and it sounds like a breeze.Crazy? Maybe. But if she lines up in Hyde Park the sacrifices, she reckons, will have been more than worth it. And she can always celebrate afterwards with a cup of tea and a bun.