New National Aquathon Champion to be Crowned in Galway None
As all roads in Galway lead to The Arts Festival for the next two weeks and the punters flock to Ballybrit for the Annual Racing Festival at the end of this month, the eyes and minds of hundreds of triathletes are firmly focused on a festival of a different kind this weekend, that of the Galway Triathlon Club Aquathon Festival which takes place this Saturday in Salthill.
The Galway Aquathon Festival is the club race of Ireland’s Largest Triathlon Club, GTC where over 500 athletes from across the country will descend on the shores of Salthill for a series of races over the course of the one day sporting festival.
With early morning super sprint races in the National Children’s Aquathon Championship for children aged 8-15 years who will race a short swim and run course distance defined by age grouping, the Standard distance event of a 1km Swim and 5km Run takes place at 10.30am followed by the feature race of the day at 11.30 the National Long Course Aquathon Championship of a 2km swim and 10km run where two new National Champions will be crowned. A relay option is also available for the Long race affording a swimmer and runner to join forces and compete for a podium spot on the day in the Relay.
Defending champions Lizzie Lee ( Cork) and Aaron o’ Brien ( Limerick) are both unavailable to race this year, Lizzie is due to welcome her first baby into the world and Aaron with a prior unmovable commitment leaves this race wide open for the crowning of two new National Champions for 2014. It is going to be a hotly contested race with a stacked field in both the men’s and women’s event with top athletes from across the country and indeed across Galway hoping to take the champions podium on Saturday.
Race entry is still available online via www.triathlonireland.com and will close at 10am this Friday morning. All Races can be entered online children’s and adults alike.
This sporting festival is hugely spectator friendly, join the swimmers on shore at Palmers Rock for the Standard race or at Blackrock for the Long race and walk the prom as athletes swim their way to the shore on Grattan Beach, where they will then run 2 *2.5km loops in the standard race and 4*2.5km loops in the long course along the prom, South Park and the Claddagh, spectators will see their athletes on numerous occasions across the course until they turn in to the finish area for the final time.
A special event expo area will be set up in Celia Griffin Park with stands from Amphibian King, Pure Athlete, Moycullen Bike Works, Kinetica, Vita Coco, Ocean Fitness and a fleet of vehicles on display by Western Motors, you can browse the stands or pick up a tasty snack from the Galway Catering Stand. There is lots to see and do on the day for supporters and spectators, if you have ever wanted to experience triathlon racing at the highest level up close this is the perfect opportunity to do so on the shores of Galway Bay.
For more information on the event log onto www.galwayaquathon.com
Article taken from Triathlon Ireland