Wow the kids really stole the show….. the food, the drinks and all the teddies (thank you to www.fitzflora.ie)

On a beautiful evening in Ireland is there any where else you would rather be than Killaloe and the activity centre has all you need to both enjoy the views and get active while doing so, their high wire ropes and sailing boats fill the Ulac park and capture the minds of every sporting enthusiast from every sporting code.

The air was filled with laughter last night as the children discovered Darragh Fahy had done some cooking and brought along a selection of cookies and chololate brownies for those lucky enough to grab one. 16 children took part in the FREE splash and dash event, these children are the future of our beautiful sport. The excitment with which they race and partake is great to watch, the nerves, the laughter, the support they give each other the future friendships they make will thrive as they race into their teens and possible dreams of Olympic endeavour.

The kids splash and Dash takes place in the inner harbour of the ulac along with very very very competitive parental in the water support……. there was a suspission of assisted swimming but the refferee saw nothing as usual 🙂 followed by a 400m run (90m swim/400m run). A big thank you to Fitzgearld flowers and Rox Toys for supporting the kids splash and dash with teddies 🙂 www.fitzflora.ie

Speed Elaine Yelverton(1st Junior) and Shinead Rooney( 2nd Junior) are two who come through the splash and dash pathway to be taking on the multisport worlds, both keen swimmers and runners who also love the stick fighting sports of the GAA world it is these little training sessions that will hopefully keep them racing and partaking into later year when they can take on the full events. (750m/2.6km)

The Nights Training session was run over a 2 lap 1500m swim and a 3 lap run 3.9km run (including sneaky killer hill). overall begginners had a 7min lead over last off swimmer Stephen Rooney, intermediates went off 3mins behind begginners and 3mins ahead of advanced, advanced group 1 min ahead of Stephen…..

Irish international athlete Stephen quickly made up ground on the swim course to move into a clear lead by the end of the 2 lap swim. exiting in just under 20mins, he tore off into a commanding lead over 2nd place male on the night Mick Davis of EnnisTri

Taking part is what we encourage, these training sessions are built on people enjoying the learning experiences. The biggest victories and smiles on the nights are when an athlete (yes thats what you are) completes his or her first open water swim. With the support of our colleagues in the ulac we are able to provide in the water support from kayakers and boats. This add to a swimmers confidence and gives options for swimmers. Last night we had 5 newbies to open water swimming, my biggest smile on the night came when a mammy finished her swim and a daughter push her through transition and ran a lap with her. Triathlon is about personal victory, not everybody can win a race but everyone can win their own battle.

Thier was a great turn out from both the Ennis Tri, Boru Tri and Limerick Tri clubs but the siblng rivalry between the Ennis girls, boyfriends and girlfriends, Husbands and wifes was an interesting calculation…. I saw wifes and girls trying to sneak into the begginner wave to beat their friends and I heard the husbands complain about having to cook if they were beaten. The first rule of fight club is ……….. 🙂

Overall female series winner Joanne Dillon of Nenagh Tri club ran herself into ground to have a superb race night, Fiona Eason in second place, used all her Shannon Master Swimming experience to swim herself to an overall placing and Helen Roche was blessed to be good at both to take 3rd place.

Full results table will be posted this afternoon, along with Picture from Gnarly Adventure founder Albert ( a good man for flyer’s, videos,posters…….. 🙂