Athy Tri, is it really that fast...

Davittdr

I plan on doing the Athy Tri (1st tri after 3 year break) and I was looking at the times for last year and the swim looks really fast.

I checked the results of some competitors against their Dublin tri times and there is up to 10mins reduction in the times, I know that the first 1100mts is downstream but is the current that strong and doesn’t this cause problems on the last 400 upstream.

Is Athy that fast or is Dublin tough?

I know when I did the Sprint Tri in Dublin in 2004 with very little training I was really disappointed with my swim time, this is my only experience in river swimming and I hated it.

tunney

the swim was short and most of it is down current.

Euchrid

It felt a little short but certainly is fast. The main stretch is down the middle of the river getting the best out of the flow, you then cut back to T1 at the side for a short distance, avoiding the full force of the flow.

If you fancy a confidence builder, they are running a test swim for anyone who wants to have a trial run, this Saturday. Details are on the race website...

Davittdr

Thanks for the info, but I cannot find any times for the trial swim on the website http://www.triathy.com/, It would be great to do it as I have very little open water practice behind me.

Thanks

Euchrid

If you have a read of their newsletter, the details are there...

http://www.triathy.com/TriAthyExtremeVol%202-Issue3.pdf

Davittdr

Thanks Euchrid, I had browsed the newsletter but missed that piece. Unfortunately I wont be able make it on Sunday and if the weather was good it could have been a nice family outing out of the city for a change.

Euchrid

No problem. Nothing to stop you going down on your own for a swim another day or drag a buddy along. As with any river swim, check with someone in the know first of course, but as far as I remember, it's a fairly safe, shallow river.

Failing that, good luck next week!

Phil01

I did both Dublin and Athy Triathlons last year. Athy swim is one of the easiest on the triathlon circuit. I found the Dublin swim to be one of the hardest second after Athlone last year. You will fly down the river in Athy and the current isn't bad coming back up either, draft behind some swimmers and keep to the sides coming back up makes it even easier.

tunney

A word is coming to mind........... duathlon

Davittdr

My Swim times in the pool aren't too bad (32 mins for 1500m). I know I just don't have enough starts under my belt to build up confidence to fight for room to get moving. Tri-athletes are a friendly bunch of people except for the few minutes around the start of a race:)

I am not giving up on triathlons just yet.

Andrewf20

Ill be in Athy myself for the start of the slow wave olympic race. As a person who has never done a triathalon, im expecting feet, elbows and other various limbs to be taking lumps out of me. God help me!

I went to Athy for that organised swim last Sunday, and I have to say I wasnt a fan of the river swimming myself. I was the last person to arrive and got few mins for do a few strokes. I found it hard to get a rhythm, not helped by the fact that the current kept dragging me off to the edges. Also found I cant wear my surf shoes. Doh! One of the organisers said that they slow you down anyway, but id still rather wear them.

tunney

Davittdr wrote: »

My Swim times in the pool aren't too bad (32 mins for 1500m). I know I just don't have enough starts under my belt to build up confidence to fight for room to get moving. Tri-athletes are a friendly bunch of people except for the few minutes around the start of a race:)

I am not giving up on triathlons just yet.

At 32mins I won't head up the front just yet, you'll get hammered.

Davittdr

no intentions of going near the front, made that mistake once

I had myself down for the slow wave but now looks like I will have to pull out of Saturday race as I have strained a muscle in my back, I think my backpack I use when cycling to work is too heavy for the distance travelled. I would have been able for the swim and bike segments but not the run as it takes an age to loosen up when getting out of a seated position. Probably means I will miss the duathlon on Wednesday as well.

Next planned race will be Carrick.