The Club was founded in 2004 with the inaugural meeting taking place at Felda, Dundalk in October 2004.
The minutes from that inaugural meeting were:-
A group of enthusiasts held a meeting recently in the Felda Fitness Centre and it was agreed upon that a new triathlon club be formed.
With the recent interest and participation in the sport of triathlon, particularly at a local level, it would be hoped to increase the numbers even further in this everyday lifestyle sport.
The inaugural Blackrock Triathlon held last summer proved highly successful and it is hoped that with the formation available from the triathlon club and its members that this can become a permanent fixture in the local sporting calendar.
The sport of triathlon which comprises three disciplines, swimming, cycling and running and these can vary in distances per race. The traditional ‘sprint’ distance comprises a 750m swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run to finish. At the extreme end of the scale is the ‘Ironman’ triathlon distance, 3.8k swim, 180k bike and finishing with a marathon.
The name of the club is to be Setanta Triathlon Club and has already been registered with Triathlon Ireland, the governing body. A provisional date in June ’05 has been applied for next year’s triathlon.
With a field of over 80 athletes participating in Blackrock last year, many of who were locals, creating a great atmosphere, numbers can be expected to increase, now that it is to become a registered event. The winter months are not the time to practice open water swimming, but with abundant swimming pools in the area, the swim aspect of the sport can be worked at all year round. The Cuchulainn Cycle Club leave from the Garda barracks each Sunday at 10AM, everybody welcome.
Johnny McCabe.
October 2004
