SEVERE WEATHER conditions turned the international Ironman triathlon event in Galway into an even more severe challenge than had been planned.
Weather conditions were such that the 1.2 mile (1.9km) swim course off Salthill was cut to 700 metres for safety reasons, and a team of lifeguards, kayakers and safety rib crews scooped out those who found it too much.
Several swimmers reported seasickness; for others, it was just plain exhaustion.
More than 2,000 entrants from over 30 countries came to Galway to compete in the swimming, cycling and running events. Some 16 were elite professionals, who regularly compete on the circuit of branded Ironman events.
The overall winner in Galway yesterday was Swiss professional Mike Aigroz, in three hours, 50 minutes and 12 seconds, while Irishman Owen Cummins was third in four hours, one minute and 26 seconds.
First Ironwoman and 14th overall was British triathlete Lucy Gossage, in four hours, 21 minutes and 9 seconds, and first Irish woman Joyce Wolfe finished in five hours and 44 seconds. There was a rousing roar for first Galwayman in, Gary Higgins, who was 39th in four hours, 34 minutes and 34 seconds.
Television presenters Gráinne Seoige and Kathryn Thomas were among the relay participants competing for charity, while singer-songwriter Keith Duffy undertook the entire event in aid of Irish Autism Action.
Ironman entrant Diarmuid Ó Conchúbhair rose at 4.30am yesterday to ensure he had enough time for “fuel” – Weetabix, pancakes, eggs, bananas, more Weetabix, pancakes and eggs. Several hours later, he was out swallowing “gallons” of the Atlantic in a 70.3-mile swim, cycle and run.
Ó Conchúbhair (26) from An Spidéal, was a first-time entrant in the Ironman.
The elite-extra, who complete the full 141-mile penance, qualify for special tattoos. However, even they may have felt canonisation was warranted yesterday with a combination of strong south-easterlies, torrents of rain and a building Atlantic swell.
Tearing their wetsuits off as they emerged from Palmer’s Rock slipway, the waves of survivors required the speed of quick-change cabaret artists as they negotiated the transition to bike. For the relay team participants passing on their timing chips, there was some sense of relief, and time for a laugh in their shared ordeal.
Mike Lane (36), of the Limerick Tri Club, was one of the serious individual amateurs who knew the tricks, like applying baby oil both inside and outside his wetsuit for quick escape. The Limerick man has been an extreme triathlete for six years, having completed a number of “Lost Sheep” Ironman events run by the Cork Tri Club in Kenmare, Co Kerry, for the past few years.
“The swim was grand, apart from an unexpected current approaching the shore, but the 56-mile (90km) bike leg to Maam Cross and back was very hard, because the wind was against us coming back,” Lane said.
He and his partners in pain then faced the half-marathon run between the Claddagh and Salthill. It would have been “fine”, he noted, were it not for “the big blister I felt on the last lap”.
Cheering him on at the finish was his partner Siobhán Duggan – also a triathlete who has completed two full (141-mile) Ironman events.
