Pursuit world champion Colin Lynch said while issues arose in the Paracycling squad last year, the overall program is improving.
By Brian Canty
Irish international paracyclist, Colin Lynch says the Paralympic programme is continuing to improve and the wider sporting public now taking note of the performances of the riders.
The reigning pursuit world champion, and winner of the 2013 World Cup series in his category, Lynch said though he has had his issues with Cycling Ireland in the past, the appointment of head coach Brian Nugent and input of new president Denis Toomey has given the sport fresh impetus.
“Since Brian Nugent took over as the high performance director, he’s made strides to improve the status of the Paracycling program,” said Lynch.
“I’ve access to the same resources as riders like Martyn Irvine, Caroline Ryan and Ryan Mullen. We’ve a new head coach Neill Delahaye who’s keen to make his own mark on the program and is bringing a fresh, regimented approach. The last few years have produced some great performances from our riders and the public is taking note.”
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Lynch receives €40,000 in annual funding from the Irish Sports Council and he’s the first to admit it brings its own pressures. But he’s not complaining.
“Funding is always based on your results,” he said.
“I’ve worked really hard the last few years and gotten those important podium positions that have put me on the top level of funding. Getting €40,000 sounds like an enormous amount of money and in truth, it is.
“But even with it my credit cards are constantly nearing their limit. More funding for me isn’t an issue, but I would like to see more funding for the Paracycling programme.
“It would allow us to go to more races, have more training camps, better equipment, staff and so on. The funding I get goes towards paying for my day to day living expenses like food and rent. And it pays or all the equipment I buy, travel, winter training away for months at a time and a host of other things.”
However, despite his funding he said the Paralympic programme did not always run smoothly.
“There are still some problems in the program,” he explained.
“But they’re not unique to Ireland. There are often personality clashes in the squad that can be disruptive and last year caused a lot of distraction with issues over funding for tandems.
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“I’d like to think that 2014 will see happier times for the squad with some people leaving and hopefully, a fresh start for all those that remain.
“I find everyone performs better when they aren’t distracted by petty squabbles. The other thing I would be concerned about is a general lack of new incoming talent to the program.
“Cycling Ireland are doing their part to try and find new riders, but there seems to be a big void of people that can take over once the old guard like myself move on.”
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Though he knows he’s not getting any younger, Lynch has his sights still very much fixed on the Rio Games in 2016.
“I’m slowly but surely working my way towards that goal now. The qualification process starts this year so I’ll have to start earning qualification points. This year is a good year to try out new things - positions on the bike, equipment, training techniques.
He said by early 2016 he wanted to have everything in place for a successful run at winning, thus far elusive, Paralympic medals.
“After that I will definitely be retiring,” he said.
“This year I hope to defend my World Championship title in the pursuit in April. It will be tough but I’m up for the challenge and I’m getting all the resources I need to perform at my best. I’d love to regain my world title in the time trial as well.
“So from April onwards I’ll have a fairly full schedule of domestic and international races.
That programme includes the track Worlds in April, road World Cup in Italy in May, Spain in June and the US in August followed by the road World Championships also in the US.”
He added he should also be doing some smaller international racing in Europe in May, the National Championships TT in Ireland and lots of local time trials in the UK where he lives.
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