Swim Squad Awards 2024: ‘Punch The Air’ Moments
These are moments through the season that have made us ‘punch the air’ in delight. A moment where all the emotions, sensations and feelings came out. Here are the moments that our Squad have nominated.
The ‘Almost Missed It’ Moments
Two of our athletes, Owain in Ironman Wales and Carl in Ironman Barcelona, had some near misses in the swim. Owain struggled with the waves and then the tide on the second lap of the swim, whilst Carl was vomiting his way through the Mediterranean. Both gritted it out and made the cut-off with minutes to spare. The tracker pinged to tell us that they had left transition and were now on the bike. Punch the air!
After super tough swims for both of them, they kept their heads, stayed in the game and finished their races with medals around their necks.
“And your man at Wales who dug in deep – Owain Jones – that was unreal to watch”
“That swim. How I finished I don’t know. Brutal. An hour for Lap one and I knew I was in trouble as I had about 30 minutes before the tide changed. Half way round and I thought I was done for. Just made it. Spent most of T1 vomiting.” Owain after the race, where almost 300 people DNF’d during or after the swim.
“I started off trying to keep it as relaxed as possible and it was going well up until about 1km and then I just started feeling really dizzy and all of a sudden just vomited my breakfast up. All of a sudden I had no energy at all and thought to myself how the hell am I going to make it through this. I always knew I had serious grit and determination and I had to use it for the next 2.8km in the water – as every time I put my head in the water it felt like I was in a washing machine and to top it of the sea was getting rougher by the minute. I eventually made it through the swim and sat down in transition and just sat there laughing to myself knowing that from that moment there was nothing that would stop me becoming an Ironman.“ Carl after the race.
Dan Coonan & The Roth Gang
“Dan had so much self-doubt for his run before Roth. He’d trained hard, is an incredible swimmer and executed the race and his first long course tri perfectly. He smashed the bike and still had an amazing run. I’m in awe and buzzing for him. The fact that he’s still at squad and not bailed to take up rowing means he must be pretty chuffed too.”
“It’s my punch in the air moment but it’s because of others I could. Watching my three mates cross the finish line of their first Ironman on live stream was special as I know how much effort they put in and problems they had to overcome, I smiled with joy as they crossed that line well done Dan, Shane & Mel.”
The Tenchy Point
One thing to emerge in 2024 was the ‘Tenchy Point’. A trademark Tenchy pose whenever he spots a photographer seems to have caught the imagination of the Squad, and no race photo was complete without the ‘Tenchy Point’.
“Seeing the Tenchy point, then seeing everyone else doing the Tenchy point!”
“I’ve seen Grahams photos at a few events were he displays great skill at spotting the camera and positioning himself for an iconic thumbs up picture. A punch the air moment of the camera capturing all the positives we want from an event.”
Dot Watching
With so many athletes and so many races this year, many of our Sundays were all about ‘dot watching’ on the various race trackers. Tense, nervous moments, wondering how athletes were getting on, whether the tracker signal had disappeared, cheering into a screen from miles away.
The moments the athletes’ finish times pinged through … an explosion of relief, delight, pride. Punch the air!
“Following squadders on the tracker and watching their dot cross the finish line!”
“Watching Tash on the Outlaw tracker, getting it boxed”
“Peter running through the field at Ironman France on his way to a 4.25 marathon (and 13.06 finish time) gave me goosebumps!”
Jon Finishing Like A Boss!
The red carpet of any race is a moment to savour and enjoy. When you’re watching athletes finish, you notice that some athletes can bring you into their world, take you on a journey and let you share their moment just with a well-timed fist pump, cheer or expression. Jon’s Ironman Wales finish did that. When we watched the video shortly after the finish, we felt the emotion, the joy, the pride.
“Have you seen Jo’s video of Jon coming over the line at IM Wales? I’ve watched it a few times. I know he doesn’t punch the air, but the stance, body language and expression on his face is unmatched. You can tell he’s had a great, but tough day out in the Welsh hills, but he comes powering down that red carpet like The Rock as the final boss at Wrestlemania!! Throwing the jacket to the crowd was brilliant.”
Punch The Air!
Just some of the moments where we lost ourselves for a moment … and made the season what it was!
Has this post jogged your memory? Do you have any moments that stand out for you? I’d love to hear about them. Message me and let me know!
Swim Squad Awards 2024: ‘Punch The Air’ Moments
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