Bryan McCrystal looking lean and mean with his selfie-stick and Garmin virb on the sun-soaked roads of Hawaii. The Dundalk man has had a long career that started in soccer before he became immersed in cycling and now it is triathlon that he is competing in. Next Saturday he will tow the line on the island of Hawaii for the Ironman world championships.
By Brian Canty
Bryan McCrystal might be heading for the autumn of his career but he’s showing no signs of slowing down just yet.
The big Dundalk man is currently in Hawaii counting down to what will be his first Ironman World Championships at Kona next Saturday, an event he’s been targeting for most of this year.
Of course, cycling took up a large chunk of the year as he gave the domestic season his commitment right up to and including the An Post Rás.
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But since then it’s been the multi-discipline sport of triathlon that has consumed him.
“I liked the way my season went last year and I wanted a big target for October,” was his reasoning for opting to try and qualify for Kona – an event few people get the opportunity to do.
“I got a taste of it last year doing two Ironmans and I thought Kona would be a good challenge.
McCrystal qualified by virtue of his result at Ironman UK in July and since then it’s been intensive training weeks while trying to balance a full-time job, a family and his coaching interests.
Yet just being in a race against the fittest athletes on earth isn’t enough for the former professional footballer.
Bryan McCrystal is one of a number of Irish competitors in Hawaii for the Ironman World Championships this Saturday. The Asea-Wheelworx rider switched his focus from road racing to triathlon after the An Post Rás in May.
“That’s not me. I want to push myself as best I can to get a good performance and where that gets me I don’t know. It’s not like any other race though, the conditions are tough.
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“It’s like the worst wind you could experience over on the west coast (of Ireland) but at 35+ degrees and 95% humidity.
“The wind can change very quickly so you can go from riding 28mph to 18mph in a second.”
He’s one of several Irish competitors taking part but admits to being below his best.
“Honestly, I’m not good and I thought I’d be better,” he confessed.
“My power has been up and down on the bike and my running is a lot slower.
“I still have some time before the race so I’m not going to panic because you can over-analyse things.
“But once race day comes something clicks. Or at least I hope it does.”
McCrystal set a new Irish record for the Ironman distance at the Barcelona triathlon last year. The Dundalk cyclist clocked a time of 8 hours 41 minutes for the 3.8 kilometre swim, 180 kilometre bike ride and 42.2 kilometre run and was later nominated by Triathlon Ireland for the award of ‘Athlete of the Year’.
Training for a triathlon, he reckons, is much diffrent to training for an event like the An Post Rás – but not necessarily harder.
“I wouldn’t say harder, it’s different. This is an aerobic event and you need the fast stuff for the road.
“I trained for the Rás as a triathlete so that’s why I was struggling on Sundays when I raced.
“But I was patient and I knew the racing would sort me out coming up to the Rás. So when I stopped swimming and running three weeks before the Rás I got form very quick.”
And though he’s obviously keen to do well this weekend, it’s the latter he has a softer spot for.
“I know I could never win this race so I’d have to say I’d prefer a stage win on the Rás …Damn you Eoin Morton!”
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