Carolyn Hayes has Sights Set on Tokyo
Inside the 100 day mark to Tokyo, we had the chance to catch up with Team Ireland’s Carolyn Hayes.
As things stand, Carolyn Hayes is ranked 51st in the ITU World Rankings, and currently holds the ‘New Flag’ spot for Europe in the Olympic Simulation Rankings. Carolyn will take us through the technicalities of that in just a minute.
Now that World Triathlon have announced that the qualification system will reopen in May, Ireland’s Olympic hopefuls have a busy May and June ahead to secure their qualifying spots.
On the Road Again
Carolyn Hayes will spend the next few months securing a spot for Tokyo. That journey begins again at the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama on 15 May.
In the months before the Covid-19 pandemic began, Hayes had a string of eye-catching international results including, 6th at the 2019 Weert ETU European Championships, 29th at the Tokyo Test Event and 2nd at the 2020 Shandrani ATU Triathlon African Cup.
We caught up with Carolyn Hayes to find out how lockdown has been for her, Olympic Qualification and how she is feeling about her upcoming races.
Hint, she can’t wait!
Question: How has training has been going, how have you found the last few months?
Like everyone it’s been a case of adjusting to circumstances and just trying to make the most out of the situation.
I am probably the only Irish athlete whose training base is solely in Ireland and I have never felt the need to have to train abroad when we have such great facilities in the Republic of Ireland.
Compared to the shock of the first lockdown I’ve settled and training has been going really well for me over the past few months. I’ve managed to acclimatise to my new training set-up quite well.
Thanks to Sport Ireland, who early on managed to secure exemptions on training restrictions for Elite Athletes (any carded athlete by Sport Ireland) I’ve been able to continue my swim training in the National Sports Campus in Abbottstown. My coach, Eanna McGrath, and I have been working really hard together both in the water and out to maximise this extra time afforded from not racing and we both feel lockdown has been beneficial.
Question: How has training been different for you through lockdown?
It’s been hard not having the group environment that is unique to triathlon. I train with HupHup and I miss the banter/slagging pre-training that you can only get with a group. I also miss the competitive element of the group – there was always someone to push you or to pick you up when feeling tired.
While it’s been solo training for me for the past year my coach has always been by my side and seeing how hard he works on training makes executing the sessions easy for me- we are both highly motivated to be the best we can and working towards the same big end goal. That said, thankfully, this most recent lockdown I’ve been afforded a training partner and they have pushed me on in training even more (thanks!)
Question: What’s the current situation – what do you need to do to get to the Olympics?
Currently I’m in the Olympic Simulation and I hold the European Flag which is based on your current World Ranking. I’m Ranked 51st in the ITU World Rankings so I’ll be racing to keep that ranking as high as I can to ensure I keep my that slot.
Normally Qualification for the Olympics is based over a two year period. You accumulate points in every race that you do which contributes to Olympic Ranking – your best 6 races count in Year one and again best 6 races in year two. The year 1 period started 15th May 2018 – 15th May 2019 and then May 2019 to the new cut-off date of 21st June 2021. In year one I only started racing in November so I missed a lot of races but I got my World Ranking.
With the new flag you’re keeping an eye on those in Olympic slots, those chasing world ranking points to supersede you, you’re watching for people higher in the Olympic Ranking not dropping out into world ranking etc. It’s very tactical!! My sole focus will be on getting the best of myself in the races that I choose to do.
Question: If you could please explain the pathway to qualifying and what the next few months of racing will mean…
I’ll be focusing on keeping my world ranking as high as possible and adding points to it. I can only include 6 races so doing lots of races won’t necessarily mean more points. There are races every weekend so my coach and I will do our best to choose the races that we think we can get the most return from.
Question: What does going to the Olympics mean to you?
The Olympics is the pinnacle of every sport and it would mean the world to me to Qualify for Tokyo – just as an athlete there is no greater honour and I know it would mean as much to my coach knowing he helped me achieve that.
I never thought about going to the Olympics as a kid because it just seemed so far removed from what I wanted to be (I always wanted to be a Dr!) however when I started Triathlon I fell in love with the sport. I only ever wanted to be the very best I could be at it and if that meant trying to qualify for the Olympics then that’s what I’m going to do. There also comes a point where you’re not doing it just for yourself. Qualifying for the Olympics would be a dream come true and a just reward for all the hard work that everyone has put in to get me this far. It would fill me with pride knowing that I managed to do it for everyone who has helped me chase this dream- especially my coaches (Eanna and Gavin) and family who have given so much to help me achieve this dream and who have always believed in me.
Question: I know it’s hard to predict form, but heading into this block of races, how are you feeling?
I’m feeling really good about this block of racing. I’ve been training really well the past few months so I’m just excited to go out and see what I can do on the back of all the hard work.
My coach has me swimming, biking and running PBs which has given me a boost of confidence as I head into this race block. I’ve a few more things to tick off in training before we fly to Yokohama but hoping to hit the ground running once everything kicks off.
