TUNA Triathlon round up

In early May, new club member Philip Castles took part in his first sprint distance event at Brown’s Bay outside Larne.

The sea swim was cut to 400 metres due to the very low water temperature. Despite this being his first open water swim the Waringstown man finished in a time of 1.08 which was good enough for fourteenth position overall. A great start to the season and a man to look out for in upcoming races.

TUNA stalwart Darragh Corvan kicked off his season in the Intercounties Sprint triathlon at Holywood Lake, Monaghan.

In a top class field, Corvan put in an impressive time of 1.06 which was good enough for seventeenth place overall.

The ever popular Roe Valley sprint took place on Saturday, May 12, and three TUNA members were on the start line for the 750 metre pool swim, 20km cycle and 5k run. George Graham was the first TUNA home, followed by Inge d’Haese with another strong performance. New member Seamus Casey opened his account for the year coming home in a very respectable 1.24.

Six of the club’s newest members travelled to Newry for the Try-a-Tri race on Sunday, May 20.

TUNA took five of the top 12 positions with Philip Castles confirming his place as the best new prospect by winning the event in an incredible time of 30.22.

Congratulations to Philip McDonald, Ryan Rainey, Seamus Casey, Stephen McConaghy and Chris McCann for putting in such a great showing.

It is testament to the swim coaching of Dwyer O’Hagan who has brought these guys from virtual beginners to real contenders in the space of a few short months.

The stand out event of the month was the Mallorca Half Iron Man event attended by Sarah McQuitty, Leeane Corvan and Pamela Gilpin along with their very own TUNA support team.

The Half Iron distance is a 1,900m sea swim followed by a 90km cycle and finishing with a 20k run. Not for the faint hearted and add to this a temperature of 29 degrees and a mountainous cycle course and you can appreciate the effort and training that the girls have put in over the winter with their TUNA clubmates.

The ladies did the club proud and again it was Leeanne who was first home in a terrific time of 6.23.

This included a run split of 1.57 which many athletes would be proud of as a stand-alone half marathon time.

Sarah was next home in 6.39 with Pamela not far away in a shade over seven hours. An adventure to remember for the girls and the week long recovery in the Majorca sun has never been more deserved.

More high profile events to come in June and training continues with open water swimming in Craigavon lakes, cycle time trialling and the usual Thursday night cycle and swim.

To find out more, check out www.tunatriathlon.org or you can find the club on Facebook.

Even better, come along to Cascades Leisure Centre any Thursday night at 8.30pm for an introduction to the UK’s fastest growing sport.