Tri Talking Sport

Working as a speech and language therapist in the NRH in Dublin, sport is not only her passion but it's also her outlet for fun, socialising and delivering some standout performances including; runner-up placings in the Triathlon Ireland National Series in 2018 and 2019. She went on to win the Triathlon Ireland National Duathlon Series in 2019 and was runner-up in the Duathlon National Championships that year.  Winner of the Hardman Bantry Middle Distance race in 2020 and Hardman Waterville Middle Distance race in 2021 she successfully executed a great performance in only her third middle distance race at IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella in May of this year to finish as fastest female age group athlete on the day stamping her ticket to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Utah later this year.  

Racing her bike as part of the All Human VeloRevolution cycling team since 2020, her cycling trophy cabinet is also bursting at the seams with the Team prize at The 2020 National Cycling Championships.  In 2021 she was second in the Cycling Ireland National Road Series, the Irish National Hill Climb Championships, and took home runner-up in the Best Irish Rider Classification at Rás na mBan.  

Coached by Olympian Gavin Noble of HupHup, a former guest on the show on episode number 50,  Becky is thriving in triathlon and with her spot secured for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in UTAH in October, her eyes are firmly on a solid performance in the States and similar to her training partner Hilary Hughes, Becky may seek to secure her pro card post World Championships.  An exciting prospect not only for Becky but also for the sport of triathlon in Ireland as these female athletes represent not only themselves, their club and country on the International stage but they provide the inspiration and example for others to follow as they embark on their own personal journeys in sport.  

Becky's passion for life, sport and fun is infectious, her positive outlook and determination to succeed coupled with her desire to never stand still,  has seen her thrive and achieve her sporting goals and ambitions from a young age, and I have no doubt there is a lot more success to come for Becky Woods in the future. Watch this space.

With 24 hours of cycling around the 3.4km (approx.) track, riders could race as a solo, two, four or eight-person team for the event.  I was thrilled but apprehensive to have been selected as a rider for the Cycling Ireland Women's Commission who had entered a team of eight riders from across a diverse background of ability and experience into the event.  

In this episode you will meet our team riders: Emma, Keela, Sharon, Hannah, Dearbhlá, Laura and Grace along with our team managers Alison and Colin who share lots of insight to our weekend of racing from the build-up and training to logistics, fuelling, racing full gas, recovery and of course the craic from the track! 

It was one of the best weekends of the year so far,  as you will hear on the show, the cycling was intense but the laughter and camaraderie was mighty! We had a great weekend of fun, friendship and fast racing. A big shout out to all the riders and crew who support them, to take part in the second edition of Mondello24.  The event this year was just as exciting as the October edition of last year with lots of riders returning to test their metal over 24 hours as a solo or two-person team having participated in larger teams last year, others participated for the first time this year and embraced the challenge that lay ahead! 

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the event with a special mention to the solo riders and especially to the girls racing solo at the event! There was great excitement on and off the track, I was very lucky to experience both sides of the track this year as a rider and as part of the Mondello crew announcing the event and taking over their Instagram for the 24 hours of the event. There was lots of talking and cycling done over the weekend. 

If anyone tuning in to the show is interested in taking part next year please get in touch and we can share more insight and tips on how to enjoy rather than endure this super ultra-cycling event! Well done again to everyone who raced, roll on Mondello24 in 2023!

Her journey has ebbed and flowed along the way, but Katie has powered through each obstacle, winning multiple medals and accolades, Katie represents Ireland in the PR2 W1x category and is a member of Galway Rowing Club, she previously rowed for UCD, whilst studying to become a Vet, her second passion in life, rowing being her first. 

She took up rowing in 2013, after successfully rowing for a number of years she took a break during her college years and upon her return has once again begun to excel in the sport.  She won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, prior to that she finished 6th in the A Final in the World Rowing Cup in 2013 in Eton, she has also won gold at the Henley Women's Regatta and at the Home International Regatta and has also set two world records on ERG, the first in 2015 over 1km the second over 2k in 2021. 

Katie's positive attitude and passion for success sees no stone unturned in the pursuit of her goals in sport and in life. Her determination is fierce and her focus is fixed, there is no stopping her, she is a star on the rise and this Galway girl is going all in on her pursuit of a gold medal at Paris 2024. 

A European and World Champion and in 2016 at the Rio Olympic she secured Ireland's first medal in sailing since 1980. She became the Female World Champion at the Moth Worlds in July 2017 and later that year joined the ' Turn the Tide on Plastic Team, for an adventure of a lifetime in the Volvo Ocean Race. 

In recent times, Annalise has been tearing up the tarmac, trails and gravel on her bike taking podium spots across a variety of bike races, she is one to watch  as she has already demonstrated a natural talent for cycling, racing and going full gas on two wheels. Her cycling successes include finishing 5th in the National TT Champs in 2021.  She also finished second in the Galway Classic behind Eve McCrystal a few weeks ago and last week was crowned champion of the Orwell Wheelers Women's League. 

Currently studying for an MBA in Trinity, removed from the constraints of life as a full time athlete, Annalise has been embracing her love of sport, adventure, fun and people to the maximum.  Highly competitive in nature, dedicated and committed to her craft, tenacious and ambitious, yet humble in her success, the world is at her fingertips.  In this episode she shares a fascinating insight into her life that will give you plenty of food for thought as you embark on your next challenge or adventure, whatever that may be. 

Other notable results include National Middle Distance Champion 2019 and 2021, National Duathlon Champion 2021, Individual Pursuit Champion 2018. At the Ironman 70.3 World Championships held in St. George last year she placed 3rd in her age group and has had multiple Age Group Wins across Ironman Lanzarote 2021, Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote and Ironman 70.3 Dublin in 2019.

Coupling her passion for medicine and her love of sport Hilary has been on a journey of juggling time, training and energy in recent years to be the best she can be in both her professional and sporting career. Taking time out from medicine to focus on her sporting career was a big decision and one she didn't take lightly but one that clearly has paid dividends in terms of her racing performance. Her passion for sport is infectious as is her laugh, this episode of the podcast provides a glimpse into Hilary's life as she shares plenty of nuggets of inspiration that are sure to fire up your own passion and energy for your chosen sport. 

We laughed our way through this episode, but behind the laughter and the fun stories, Hilary Hughes is a determined, courageous and spirited athlete who will leave no stone unturned or any preparation to chance as she goes all in to be the best athlete she can be! Watch this space, there's a whole other chapter to be written by Hilary as she embraces her life in sport in the coming years. 

A two time National Marathon Champion, taking the 2018 title at the Dublin Marathon and the 2021 title at the Belfast Marathon whilst also winning this race outright, he is no stranger to being crowned a National Champion.  He has 11 national titles to his name, the most recent of these, his second at the 10k distance at the Great Ireland Run in March 2022. 

Hampered by a niggling injury over the past few years, the pandemic brought about an opportunity for Mick to step back and take time out to get the strains and at the time an unknown stress fracture healed. He is now getting back into his stride and is on track to being back at full tilt in time for this year's Dublin Marathon in October where he will aim to defend his National Marathon Championship title and go faster than his marathon PB of  2:13:19 set in Dublin in 2019.  

With a young son at home and new arrival due in July, Mick loves spending time outdoors with his family, with his running clients for whom he is a coach, or with his club mates on a run, or more likely competing against them in a race.  The key to his success? Consistency in training, getting the balance right in terms of training, racing, lifestyle and having fun. Mick alongside his coach Dick Hooper work in partnership to deliver the results we consistently see Mick achieve and, although not every race has gone his way, when Mick Clohisey is on the start line of a race you know you are going to see some superb running and a great result. 

Embracing the tri life, sport has become a huge part of his every day. He has raced nine IRONMAN events since first dipping his toes into long-distance triathlon in Mallorca in 2014, his so-called ' one and done' plan quickly put to the back of his head after enjoying the challenge of going long.  Catching the IRONMAN bug he has gone on to race in Lanzarote, Wales, Barcelona and raced at Kona in 2017 finishing sub 10 on the Big Island. In just a few short weeks he will race in Lanzarote before heading to Kona once again to embrace the island and the 2022 World Championship event.

He has coached multiple IRONMAN finishers, World Championship qualifiers, race winners, ITU national representatives and some of the most talented age group triathletes across the country.  Dad to 4 children he juggles daily life with his wife Roisin in Newry who is a coach and member of Newry Triathlon Club.  He is the resident coach on the Team RWB Monday night social Zwift spins where we spin away an hour on the turbo every Monday night from 7:30pm. 

In this episode, Oliver shares his journey in sport, his passion for chasing goals himself and supporting his athletes to do the same.  He gives us some top tips for embracing your race, from training and race day prep to getting your fuelling right and the importance of having fun and enjoying the process of getting not only to the race start line but most importantly the finish line. 

The 2018 Commonwealth Games athlete has had some superb results since taking up triathlon in 2010, including being crowned the National Sprint Distance Champion in 2016 at just 17 years of age. He finished 3rd U23 male at the 2019 ETU Aquathlon European Championships finishing in 6th place overall in the ELITE men's race on the day. 

It's not just triathlon that James has excelled, his swimming and running results are also very impressive.  From a young age he has shown great depth and power to his performance and ability in sport.  In 2020 he was both the Ulster and Northern Ireland 5k and 10k Champion, which are both impressive in their own right, however it hasn't been plain sailing to the podium for James. Having endured no less than eight, yes eight stress fractures in his foot in recent years it is a wonder he hasn't thrown in the towel on sport or indeed on triathlon, but he continues to remain highly motivated, committed and determined to succeed in the sport that he has in recent years fallen in love with. 

We have seen some great results from James Edgar but I believe the best is yet to come and with the amount of 'hard graft' as he says himself, consistency in his training, his approach to life as an athlete, coupled with his can do and will do attitude, we will see his appetite for success building to deliver many more great days and results across swim, bike and run.

Taking on the mammoth task in May of this year they are each no stranger to uphill battles be it in sport or in life. Damian, a former guest on the podcast is an avid extreme adventurer, and explorer whose fascination with exploring the world has seen him embark on quite a few life-changing adventures. Listen to his episode (No 12) on the podcast to get a glimpse into his life of adventure and ability to push his boundaries to the extreme. Fergus has bravely fought a battle for his life after an accident in 2018 left him with a 5% chance of ever walking again, but battle he did.  He fought hard to overcome the challenges and obstacles he faced in recovery in learning to walk again. Setting small goals along the way he achieved his primary goal of being able to walk and just one year after his accident walked from Athenry in Galway to the NRH in Dublin, a journey of 206km on foot that would see him achieve a massive goal that he had set himself only weeks after his accident had left him with little hope of ever setting two feet on the ground again. 

Together Damian and Fergus are a formidable force, focused and determined, they have left no stone unturned in their quest to row home from America.  With one eye on the successful crossing of the ocean the other eye is on a World Record that although hasn't been broken for over 100 years could just be within their reach. Regardless of the record, with a little luck and some kind weather from mother nature, a successful row across the 4937.47km of the North Atlantic will see them enter the ocean rowing history books and they will be the talk of their home town of Galway for many years to come, leaving a lasting legacy for others to follow and be inspired by.