Chris Mintern (Waterford tri club) showed again why he’s one of the top juniors in Ireland , with this convincing win in Tramore, co. Waterford.  This was the final of the three bay triathlon series organised by Transition Events.

Full Tramore Metalman Triathlon report from Robin Stubbs.

“Records were broken on Saturday in the southeast as the Team T-Bay smashed the course record by nearly four minutes.

The sunny southeast unfortunately did not live up to its name as the weather turned misty for the duration of the race. This did not stop the 150 adult and 50 juniors taking to the start line for what is the fourth running of the Tramore Metalman Sprint Tri.

The sea conditions thankfully held following the previous nights storm. The competitors had to negotiate a slight chop for the first 100m out to the buoy. Once out at the buoy and past the surf, the swim was relatively straight forward in calmer waters. Local lifeguard James Hanrahan led the swim but was quickly followed by 17 year old triathlete sensation Chris Mintern of the Waterford Tri club. These two had opened up a considerable lead on the chasing pack. Last year’s victors, team “chunky monkeys” were in hot pursuit as Stephen “the bullet” Byrne gave his all to close the gap on the first two.

Winning Team - Team T-Bay

Into T1 and James handed the baton onto Martin Cullinane of T-ay surf club and the recent RAS rider literally dropped the hammer to speed away from the entire field. Having assessed the situation Chris, realising he was leading the individual race measured his effort and controlled his race superbly from this point on.

The locals were not to be outdone however and a group containing Emmet Kelly, top Irish finisher in Ironman Regensburg last month, and Paul Ogle emerged from T1 in the top 10 and were in hot pursuit. In the ladies event local girl Maebh Savage was determined to regain her crown and was performing strongly whilst keeping an eye on Kate Molloy.

In the relay competition, team Chunk Monkeys had giving up all hope as Ger “big fella” Foley” tried to close the gap but to no avail.

Into T2 and Team T-Bay Surf Club had a considerable gap which runner Jim Baldwin duly took full advantage of and completed the run to take first spot. Chris Mintern was in close proximity and duly turned in a quick run to complete his race first in the individual rankings. Next home was team Chunky Monkeys and their runner Phillip “the beautiful” O`Leary who was quite boisterous at the finish claiming that this was not the end of “chunky monkeys” and that they would be back, bigger and stronger than ever!..

The podium was founded out by Emmet Kelly in second and Kilkenny Tri`s Phillip Nolan. In the ladies, Maebh held onto first spot with Kate Molloy in second and Elaine Mullen taking third. The Vets section were won by Ann Hennebry and Mick Bowes, both from Waterford Tri

Further down the field, athletes were fighting their own personal battles. Peter McSweeny was returning from Spain where he was warm weather training for the last 4 years and was adamant that he would complete his hometown race.

The kids “splash and dash” gets bigger year on year. Kids form under 8 and up were giving the opportunity to emulate the seniors. Considering that Tramore Tri is the only event to run such an event in the southeast is something that the governing body should really look into especially if the sport is to thrive.

All in all a great day was had by all. A big thank you to this year’s recipients; Waterford Marine Search and Rescue and Tramore Order of Malta. In addition we like to thank T-Bay Surf Club for the use of their premises and the local Garda for their assistance. Well done and here`s looking forward to next year already.

All results and details can be found www.transitionsevents.com”

Tramore Metalman triathlon results 2011