Blackwater Triathlon Club

Well done to club member Niamh Fleming who headed to Dublin at the weekend ! Here is what Niamh had to say 😁😁
Dublin city triathlon was brilliantly run. The conditions were perfect, no wind, slightly cool in the morning, warming up as the the went on but never too hot. The swim is up and down stream in the Liffey from the Garda boat club in Chapelizod. The central divider meant there was no need for sighting and being in female only wave meant there was very little argy bargy which allowed a good fast time to start us off.
The bike took us on closed roads on an undulating 3 laps of the Phoenix park. The run was also on closed roads, also 3 laps, fitting as it is after all a TRI-athlon! The support and encouragement from Marshalls, including the Gardaí was great and made for a very enjoyable race and one I'd highly recommend.

last weeks 'Splash and Dash' with Triathlon Ireland and Cork Sports Partnership.

Aimed at women of all abilities, in particular those new to triathlon. It was the first event of its kind in Cork. The event began with a 20 minute pool swim, followed by a 20 minute run/walk in the park. Following the run, Declan spoke to the ladies about BTC and what training sessions and events are available to our members. He spoke about the team spirit, camaraderie and sense of community that comes with being part of the club. Overall, a great success and hopefully plenty of potential BTC members among them!

Weekend round up 😃😄

We had swimming 🏊‍♀️

With a crew heading to myrtleville for the 2k swim , Deirdre Cloete was 3rd in her category

Well done Niamh Fleming Declan O'Keeffe Gina lyons & Deirdre , Excellent swimming 🏊‍♂️ 👏

Rachel F Cronin headed to Wexford for Tri the hook sprint Triathlon on Saturday & Then decided to also take part in Hills of the harbour sprint Triathlon Sunday 😆

Aoife Mulry headed to wesport for Olympic distance Triathlon & was second in her age category 😃 Aoife has been on form recently racking up category wins 🏆

Sunday saw a big group head to whitegate for hills of the harbour sprint Triathlon, with Dave Bartley taking home 1st in his age category 😀
This race offers a great post race spread of a bbq burger 🍔 & ice cream from the ice cream van 😋 well done to Deirdre Cloete, Rachel F Cronin, Peter O Brien , Clem Leonard , Kenneth Power Brian o Hagan Adrian collins , Stephen Collins, Charles Russell

Saturday was club spin day, plenty of chats to be had & a coffee after 😃😃

Sunday was the cork city 10k - great way to flush out the legs 🦵 👏 well done to Terry Broderick Marian Twomey & Deirdre Morrison

A group of our club members, along with some of their family members travelled to Alpe d'huez in France to take on the infamous Alpe d'huez Triathlon, this is a 2.2k swim , 120k bike ride , consisting of 3200 meters of elevation, tackling the famous 21 bends of Alpe d'huez (if you watched the tour de France you'll know what hell awaited our crew) followed by a spicy 19k run with 388 meters of elevation,
Along side a ridiculous amount of Elevation you had also the boiling heat and altitude to contend with !
Its no wonder a few of our brave souls found themselves victim to the Alpe d'huez DNF list 🤣🤣😅😅
But its been agreed even though they did not succeed, they were beyond thrilled with their efforts.

And to the Hardy few that came , saw& conquered. They officially have bragging rights - FOREVER!

If you want an event to test your athletic performance, will power & grit when then this is the event for you !

Picture st Patrick's hill in cork city. Again, again , again & again more times than you can count😑 😒 before even reaching the famous 21 bends of Alpe d'huez you will have already climbed 2000 meters over 108k to arrive at the bottom of HELL 🤣🤣

And it definitely wasnt heaven waiting for you at the top , although I think a few of us saw jesus 🤣

19k run of Hell was ahead, trail , pavement, dodging people! Just sheer survival! But outta the ashes of hell they rose , and across that line they dashed 😝

And obviously with any good trip away there was some alcohol consumed, some dancing to be had 😃😄

The support crew from the families was brilliant 👏 👌

I think we can all agree that while the race was absolutely brutal the trip itself was excellent 👍 😀

And special mention to Eileen who took part on her birthday 🎂 🥳 and smashed her goal and finished buzzing across that line 👏
The altitude went to some people's heads and they ended up with Tattoos 🤣🫪😖🫣

Well done to

Eileen Ryan , Clem Leonard Terence O Brien Charles Russell Kenneth Power Pat Dunlea Rachel F Cronin dermot johnson Terry Broderick Ronan fox
( Bryan Hanton non club member , but part of the clan)

Being part of a club isnt just about training & racing ! Its about forming friendships , having laughs, and doing things outside of club planned events & training sessions

A few of our club members decided to head to the newly opened RiverWell Sauna the other night for some recovery & chats

Our club is always welcoming new members 💙

You can join by going onto the Triathlon Ireland website and following the steps there

Start your Blackwater triathlon journey today 😁

The Sandycove Island Race is one of Ireland's premier open-water swimming events, attracting some of the country's top swimmers each year. The course consists of a single lap around Sandycove Island, just outside the mouth of Kinsale Harbour and just under 2km. This year's competitors were treated to perfect conditions, with a flat calm sea and glorious sunshine making for an outstanding day of racing. Congratulations to all the BTC swimmers who took part, with some fantastic medal-winning performances: Deirdre Cloete – Gold Caitriona Howard – Silver Aoife Mulry – Silver Declan O'Keeffe – Bronze. Also representing BTC were Julian Boeg and Dave Mulcahy all of whom put in excellent performances in a very competitive field. Well done to everyone who represented the club at this iconic open-water event.



The Union Hall RNLI 12th Annual Harbour Swim took place in the beautiful surroundings of Glandore Harbour. Unlike a race, this popular event is all about participation, with swimmers choosing between 1km and 2km distances while supporting the invaluable work of the RNLI. This year's swim attracted an impressive 270 participants. Due to a strong westerly wind, organisers altered the course on the day to provide swimmers with more shelter. While the revised route helped reduce the impact of the conditions, it still proved to be a challenging swim for everyone taking part. Congratulations to all the BTC swimmers who completed the event: Mary Collins, Liz O'Keeffe, Deirdre Cloete, Niamh Fleming, Declan O'Keeffe, Julian Boeg, and Caitriona Howard. Well done to everyone for taking on the challenge and proudly representing BTC at another fantastic open-water swimming event while supporting such a worthy cause.

Some club members recently took a trip across the Pond to take part in the T100 in London.
Well done to Pat walsh , Charles Russell Pat Dunlea Laura Fernandez o sullivan

Pat walsh gave us some info , thank 😊 well done guys , Pat walsh made the podium as second in his age cat 🐈

London T100 has come nd gone. 4 travelled, 2 seasoned athletes nd 2 not so seasoned athletes..brilliant time with fantastic company,, cannot give Pat nd Charlie enough praise for the support that they gave to me,, did not realise the task in store for me.. The swim was a major eye opener, got walloped, kicked nd pushed down under surface, managed to get to exit of 1st km nd thought about not going back in,, took about 5min to compose myself nd went in for 2nd lap,, thankfully it went a lot better for me. That's was major for me... The bike went well without any delays....I had decided prior to run that I would walk at different times nd at aid stations, got to finish to almighty noise nd applause.. To have Breeda nd members of my family at the finish was terrific.. Breeda was constantly at the barriers cheering us on.. Laura was doing the Olympic event nd she was at finish line with her mam nd aunt,, a big big thanks to Laura as she was the person who encouraged me to sign up, I owe her a great debt of gratitude.. Unbelievable event nd what an atmosphere I would recommend it as an event.. P. S they gave me a medal to keep me quiet..

Some club members recently took a trip across the Pond to take part in the T100 in London.
Well done to Pat walsh , Charles Russell Pat Dunlea o sullivan

Pat walsh gave us some info , thank 😊 well done guys , Pat walsh made the podium as second in his age cat 🐈

London T100 has come nd gone. 4 travelled, 2 seasoned athletes nd 2 not so seasoned athletes..brilliant time with fantastic company,, cannot give Pat nd Charlie enough praise for the support that they gave to me,, did not realise the task in store for me.. The swim was a major eye opener, got walloped, kicked nd pushed down under surface, managed to get to exit of 1st km nd thought about not going back in,, took about 5min to compose myself nd went in for 2nd lap,, thankfully it went a lot better for me. That's was major for me... The bike went well without any delays....I had decided prior to run that I would walk at different times nd at aid stations, got to finish to almighty noise nd applause.. To have Breeda nd members of my family at the finish was terrific.. Breeda was constantly at the barriers cheering us on.. Laura was doing the Olympic event nd she was at finish line with her mam nd aunt,, a big big thanks to Laura as she was the person who encouraged me to sign up, I owe her a great debt of gratitude.. Unbelievable event nd what an atmosphere I would recommend it as an event.. P. S they gave me a medal to keep me quiet..

Ironman 70.3 Vitoria Gasteiz

Last weekend 4 of the BTC ladies travelled to Spain to take part in Ironman 70.3 Vitoria Gasteiz. Set in the Basque region of Northern Spain less than 1 hour drive from Bilbao, the small city of Vitoria Gasteiz was buzzing with triathletes taking on the full and half distance on Sunday July 11th. One thing on all our minds was the heat and how us pasty Irish girls could cope with temps in the mid 30s. Ciara’s fuelling and hydration plan was deployed and extra bottle cages went on the bikes. Saturday was a busy day with building bikes, pumping wheels, registering, race briefing, dropping off our bikes and bags at T1 and T2 which were about 20km apart and getting a little practice swim in.

There wasn’t much time for sleep with a 3.30am start on race morning. Shuttle buses dropped us to Landa lake before sunrise so once we had bikes loaded up with fuel, we enjoyed a quick power nap before getting into the wetsuits. The water was toasty but just under the temp for compulsory non-wetsuit. We were expecting a calm flat lake but the wind stirred things up and it turned into a tough choppy slog. The 4 of us got through and were happy to share a few WTFs and high 5 moments in T1 before getting on our bikes. Again, with Clem ringing in our ears we looked forward to a fast rolling bike leg but for some parts with strong headwinds and cross winds and not a ditch in sight, staying on the bike and moving forward rather than sideward became the focus over speed. But we stuck to our hydration plan and arrived in T2 in one piece.

Niam’s training in the run up to the race had a hiccup which meant her race plan changed to being chief cheerleader on the run for the rest of us.

The run was a 2 lap course through the narrow streets of the city and in the outskirts through some lovely parks. It was full of twists and turns and the atmosphere and cheers from supporters and other competitors helped the kilometres tick by. The aid stations were fantastic and plentiful and thanks to the drenching from water hoses, cups of water, ice and energy drinks we crossed the finish line smiling.

Whilst a tough race due to the conditions, we all came away happy with our achievements and enjoyed a couple of days of strolling around Bilbao and stopping off for some shade for an odd vino and pintxo. A great trip with the chicas – roll on 2027!

**Moby Dick Tri – 4th July 2026**

Blackwater Tri Club had a fantastic turnout at this year's Moby Dick Tri, which featured both sprint and Olympic distance races. The event also marked the first time an Olympic distance race was held.

Competing in the **Sprint** were **Bernard Kiernan** and **Brian O'Hagan**.

Representing the club in the **Olympic distance** were **Struan Simpson**, **Joe Scanlan**, **Terry O'Brien**, **Peter O'Brien**, **Dave Bartley**, and **Adrian Collins**.

A huge congratulations to **Struan Simpson**, who took the overall win in the inaugural Olympic distance race—an outstanding achievement!

The day concluded with the kids' race, where **Teddy Lyons** and **Dan Collins** took on a 100m open water swim, 4km bike ride, and 1km run along the boardwalk. Both raced brilliantly and should be very proud of their performances.

Well done to everyone who took part and represented Blackwater Tri Club so well!