Tetrathlon Championships 2024 Offchurch, Warwick

Six fit Flint and Denbigh Branch members set off for the Championships for which they had qualified earlier in the year. They had all worked hard to get there and were looking forward to the competition and to the social side too.  Tetrathletes know how to party.

Our Intermediate team of 3 were

• Harriet Goodall,
• Leah Lamb and
• Olivia Bexon.

Harriet and Leah shot a respectable 800 but Olivia’s nerves got the better of her. Harriet had an excellent swim of 9L 7m.  They walked the course – the most testing they had ever done and rode it on the Saturday.  There were 4 combinations that were going to sort the riders out.  Unfortunately, Olivia was eliminated at the combination fence 8 but Harriet and Leah got round with two stops each. Harriet and Leah were 24th and 27th respectively out of 45 girls.  Harriet was awarded the trophy for the highest placed Welsh Intermediate Girl.

Lleucu Newton and Orla Kissane had qualified for the Junior class.  Lleucu was 24th out of 94 girls. She shot a great 900 and rode a superb XC round – it was a joy to watch – and achieved 1400.

Casper and Orla Kissane were the other two FnD members competing. They were amazing. Casper won the Stepping Stones class out of 20 Mini Boys and Orla  was an amazing14th/94.  Orla was also in an Area 5 team which came 3rd out of 15 teams.

A great time was had by all.  See report below.

This report is coming from Kissane headquarters, which has been temporarily moved to Ireland for a weeks well earned rest. The two Kissanes have been very busy with tetrathlon over the last two weeks and with this report, we hope to give you all some insight into what the tetrathlon  competition entails as you make your way up through the levels and just how much fun you can have and what great friends can be made.

Two weekends ago, Orla made her way over the Irish sea to Punchestown to take part in the Irish National Championships. She went along with three other Area 5 team mates (friends!) with the horses travelling over together in one lorry.  Punchestown was beautifully presented in a fantastic setting with the horses all housed in permanent stables where the racehorses are kept during the racing.  The first evening was a welcome party and what a welcome it was, the Irish made sure everyone was well hydrated and ready to party!

In Ireland, the shooting targets are a different shape (square) and scored differently with everyone having 4 minutes to take 5 shots (twice) at static targets.  It certainly isn’t quiet in the shooting hall and people wandering around everywhere so there are plenty of distractions! The shooting took place on Friday evening and Orla seemed to revel in the laid back attitude of the Irish shooting and shot a commendable 800 which, I’m told, is the equivalent of about a 920/940 shoot in the UK.

The riding and the run were on Saturday. The course was huge! Orla said, “Is this how they used to be in the olden days?”, I was offended but didn’t let it show, “YES”!!  Ditches, hedges, water jumps galore, even a Hickstead bank thrown in.  The course actually rode really well and all our Area 5 girls did themselves proud. Orla had one run out, so a deduction of 60 penalties followed but still not out of it.

The run for our girls followed very quickly after their ride (the more cynical of us may think this was a thwarting tactic of the Irish ……..). They were set off in groups of four that the athletes seemed to put themselves into and off they went. Their number bibs had chips in that automatically logged their time. Orla did a good run, it was on the racecourse which was surprisingly hilly…. I assumed a racecourse was flat. It’s not!

The next day (Sunday) was the swimming in a lovely pool in Dublin, Orla managed a pb by 1 metre (8 lengths, 23 metres) and so her competition was finished. She did brilliantly coming 11^th out of over 100 competitors and had the highest score of the Brits crossing the Irish sea. She made friends for life and the girls definitely became better acquainted with the Irish charm!

We headed back to Wales that evening and had a week to get the lorry prepped for the UK national champs in Offchurch, Warwick.

Casper was entered into the “Stepping Stones” class and was competing for Wales and Borders and Orla was entered into the Junior class.  As I have mentioned before, Cas isn’t the best shot in the world, I sometimes think he closes the eye that his safety glasses don’t have covered with the black tape. However, on this occasion, he appeared to keep his eyes open and his sights actually on the middle of the target, scoring a massive (for him!) 880.   Cas also had his swim and run on the same day, he managed to pb in his swim (5 lengths and 4 metres) and then, running as fast as his skinny little legs would carry him, blasted around, gaining himself “best run”.

Saturday, it was onto the ride. And Rory, yet again, rose to the challenge. For this competition, the “stepping stones” do “arena eventing”, so it’s 30 penalties for a pole down and 60 penalties for a refusal. There was also a holding box where the horse had to stand still for 4 seconds and a slip rail. Rory, in his usual nonchalant style, popped around, never breaking stride, standing like a rock in the holding box and even attempting to graze!  As they crossed the finish line there was a roar from the crowd ( well ……..John and I) and elation from Cas. The UK champion in the “stepping stones” class!!

And then we come onto Orla in the junior class.  She had  a brilliant shoot, 960, she was cool, calm and collected and she was off to a good start. Next up, we were onto the swim, a sad swimming hat malfunction and her “jumping the gun” meaning she was deducted a metre meant she had finished well short of her pb but she logged 8 lengths 17 metres, so still all to play for.

Riding was the next day and she knew, with what she could run, she was in with a chance of a podium finish if she could jump the elusive 1400 ride. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. And THAT is horses for you, that is the joy of tetrathlon, you never know what can happen and over the weekend, every discipline has to come together. She had 2 run outs and had to take one learner fence so now knew the chance of a rosette was gone.  After initial devastation and disappointment, she pulled her socks up, put her spikes on and went out and ran. And she didn’t run half bad! She started in the fasted heat and the course took them up hill, down dale and through the water in the water jump – a proper running course! Everyone collapsed over the finish line, exhausted and relieved it was all over.  Considering all the riding penalties, she still managed to come 14^th out of 100 competitors, so she could still be incredibly proud of herself.  Next year, she moves to the Intermediate class, so who knows what that will bring but we certainly hope that next year will be her year.

In conclusion, they have both made friends for life (as I did back in my day, with many of my tet friend’s children now competing with and against each other!), they have had a wonderful time, we’ve barely seen them ( as it should be) and they slept all the way home!!