FULL NAME: Include cringey middle names please?!
Martin CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL MARY Lynch. The so-called ‘Mary Factor’ was quite common in Catholic families to give their first-born a Mary middle name to invoke protection from the Virgin Mary. Michael was my dad’s name, and an Archangel, and Christopher was a reference to St. Christopher. Hang on, wasn’t Martin a famous Saint too? So as you can see, I had a boatload of celestial protection going on, which explains me surviving until now.- BIRTHPLACE: And name other places you have lived
Born in St. Johns Terrace, down the West in Galway, I lived here until college. In college I took the J1 visa to New York for the summer and the following year, after finishing college, moved to London for the summer and ended up staying for 10 years. Back to Galway in 1999 and have been here since. - WHEN DID YOU JOIN GTC AND WHY?
I joined GTC in 2022 because I already ran a bit and cycled and wanted to finally overcome my inability to swim and a big fear of open water. My daughter jokes that there were easier ways than triathlon to learn how to swim. She’s so right. I’ve always loved the sea, but only from land, with a trusty flask of tea, a fold-up chair and a book. Now, I enjoy being out in the water on a fine day looking back to shore or bobbing around on my back looking up at the sky. - OCCUPATION
Journalist - PREVIOUS SPORTS
Karate, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump - SWIM / BIKE / RUN: Which do you prefer and why?
Bike. I find cycling a catapult back to my early childhood when I rode my crappy old fifth-hand bike everywhere, and before that an ancient, large three-wheeler with solid rubber tyres around corners at speed tilted on two wheels. I still love cycling as it’s a great way to get out and explore our beautiful country without the impact of running or swimming’s butt-clenching fear of dying or being eaten by some leviathan from the deep. - FAVOURITE EVENT OR FAVOURITE PLACE TO TRAIN
Fave events so far were the Mullaghmore and Westport Sprints. The Metalman Olympic was my most comfortable swim, and they are very rare. For training, I’ll most likely be found jogging around Dangan or up and down by the river. I also like any one-day or charity cycling event. It’s a great way to see new parts of the country, even if it’s just a county next door. I do like cycling in Connemara, Mayo and Clare and love heading off down small roads I haven’t been on before, even if they end at a farm or a gate. Great fun finding new routes. - SPORTING CLAIM TO FAME: Name any sporting achievement you are most proud of
Winning the Connacht Schools Long Jump and Triple Jump a few times in school, completing the Cork 70.3 Ironman on that tragic final event in 2023 and beating Jeremy Clarkson in go-karting. - THREE MUSIC TRACKS THAT POWER YOUR TRAINING SESSIONS
Anything hard and heavy when I’m pulling like a dog and podcasts when I’m meant to be going easy. - YOUR ALL-TIME SPORTING HEROES AND WHY?
Bruce Lee. My cousins and I sneaked into the old Astoria/Claddagh Palace cinema back in the day and saw Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. We were 13 to 14 years old and proceeded to spend the rest of the summer “Kung Fu-ing” the crap out of each other, while stealing our mothers’ sweeping brushes to cut up and make homemade nunchucks, which we mainly used to injure ourselves.As I got older and took up martial arts, I learned a lot more about him and the numerous life challenges and physical hurdles he overcame to become the most iconic martial artist of all time. He was a smart guy and a dedicated athlete. Inspired me to train. Shame he died so young. - YOUR GTC HERO, AND WHY?
There are a few, so it would be unfair to pick one, but for me it would be those people who also give up some of their time to help out with training and support, and who make newcomers and those who are not elite enjoy the training process, feel welcome and comfortable no matter their level.
