One of the best riders in the country despite being well into his 40s, Greg Swinand says older riders need to get the intensity of their training right; pictured here by Sean Rowe wearing the yellow jersey at the Wexford Two Day.
By Brian Canty
Greg Swinand took a whopping eight wins this year between road race and time trial events, and the UCD CC rider says he has no intention of stopping racing any time soon.
He might by 47 years old now but the US-born Wicklow man showed up many of his younger adversaries in 2014.
Amongst his biggest wins was a solo victory in the inaugural Deenside Cup.
He also took the opening stage of the Tour of Ulster as well as the national vets’ TT title, a race he won by over two minutes.
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“It’s hard to say which one meant the most to me because every win is special,” he said.
“But if I had to pick one it would be the Stamullen GP in April.”
There, he soloed away from a star-studded field, leaving the likes of Adam Armstrong (Dave Kane Cycles-Northern CC), Paidi O’Brien (Edge Sports-Osbourne Meats) and Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne) amongst others, trailing in his wake.
His other wins included the Newbridge GP, the opening stage of the Wexford Two-Day, the Emyvale Gp and the gold medal in the pursuit in the National Vets’ Track Championships.
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A very accomplished road rider, Swinand is also extremely strong against the watch on both road and track. Seen here in team time trial mode in the white kit of national vets' time trial champion. He switched to UCD from the Irish Road Club for 2014 and has not looked back since (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Asked what advice he’d give to riders aged 35 years and old, he laughed: “Don't listen to all those guys saying you're going to get worse (as you age).
"This year at the masters worlds, the 45+ pursuit times were faster than the 40+ times; just keep going. I’d say 99 per cent of it is training and looking after yourself.
"Lots of things are important in life, like family, your job and your attitude. When it comes to the bike I’d say training at the right intensities is the key.
"And if you haven't had a good coach before; that’s very important.”
Despite his standing as one of the very best domestically based Irish riders, Swinand believes the An Post Rás could be beyond him.
“I told myself never again before. But never say never. Physically, I’d be okay. But maybe not mentally.
"I'm not so up for it. It's a much nervier sort of race, and the ability to deal with that perhaps wanes with age.
"It's a different animal to what it was 10 or 15 years ago; 180 riders compared to around 150 before and slightly shorter stages.”
He said the race was faster now, with younger riders and several Continental ranked teams, all of which made it more unattractive to him than before.
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