Horse Week: 150 athletes to compete in International Tetrathlon at Castle Irvine, County Fermanagh this August

The Pony Club Senior International Tetrathlon 2024 will take place at Castle Irvine (Necarne) in County Fermanagh from August 2-4 and everyone’s invited to join in the fun.

Members of the public are encouraged to line the streets of Irvinestown for the opening horseback mounted ‘ceremony of colours’ parade through the town at 3pm on Thursday, August 1.

Visitors are also encouraged to come along and watch the exciting cross country running, riding and show jumping phases at Necarne on Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 4.

It is a huge honour for Northern Ireland to have been selected as the host country for this prestigious event which usually takes place every two years.

Impressively, local Fermanagh siblings, Sophia and Patrick Williams, have been appointed as vice-captians of the UK senior girls and boys teams respectively, following their incredible success last summer, each winning the open girls and open boys competitions at the Pony Club UK Tetrathlon Championships in England.

Sophia (19) and Patrick (18), who are members of Seskinore Pony Club, have been successfully competing in Pony Club Tetrathlons since they were each just 10 years old.

In 2022, the international competition involved only the UK and Ireland as travel restrictions were still in place for competitors travelling from further afield and both Sophia and Patrick were chosen to compete at this international level with Sophia competing for UK and Patrick competing for Ireland.

Tetrathlon (tetra, meaning four) is a team and individual competition organised by the Pony Club for its members.

Its four phases comprise shooting, swimming, running and horse riding.

It is a variant of, and major recruiting ground for, the Olympic sport of Modern Pentathlon.

Competition levels progress with age. At senior level, for competitors aged up to 25, the shoot phase involves shooting with air pistols at turning targets at a distance of 10 metres.

Girls swim as many lengths and metres as possible in three minutes and the boys in four minutes.

Both girls and boys run cross country – 1,500m for girls and 3km for boys.

The exhilarating ride phase is usually over a cross country course with approximately 20 challenging jumping obstacles of up to 1m in height. The course also involves navigating through a gate on horseback and leading your steed over a slip rail fence.

Rigorous year-round training is required to successfully compete in this multidisciplinary sport with selection to represent your country at international level being the peak of most athletes’ careers.

The Williams siblings’ hard work, dedication and success has proved inspirational to the many young Northern Irish tetrathletes now competing in branch, area, UK and junior international competitions.

Sophia, who returned home to Fermanagh to take part in the competition this summer following a year out after A Levels, before taking up her place at Liverpool University to study Veterinary Medicine, said she’s delighted that the international event is taking place on home turf.

Hosting the event – with organisation led by Sophia and Patrick’s parents, Heather Williams, Head of Northern Ireland Pony Club Tetrathlon, and Jonny Williams, a former NI international tetrathlete, along with the Northern Ireland Area and Senior International Tetrathlon Committee – is an enormous undertaking for a small pony club region.

The committee are hugely grateful for the support they have received from both local businesses and council representatives.

The 150 visiting international competitors will be staying in Irvinestown, where Mahon’s Hotel will be hosting many of the visitors and the event’s social activities, from Monday July 29 through to Monday, August 5.

The athletes will have competed at the Irish Pony Club Senior Tetrathlon Championship in Punchestown over the preceding weekend and will enjoy some downtime and sightseeing around Northern Ireland, including a trip to Bushmills, the Giants Causeway and participating in water sports on Lough Erne hosted by the Manor House and Manor House Marine, before competing in the weekend’s competition at Castle Irvine.

The international tetrathlon competition opens on Friday, August 2, with the shoot phase taking place at Castle Irvine on Friday morning, followed by the Swim phase in Omagh Leisure Centre, supported by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

The main spectator event will be the cross country riding element which will take place all day on Saturday throughout the grounds at Castle Irvine.Sunday morning will see the competitors undertake the gruelling cross country running phase, followed by the final international event of show jumping for the visiting athletes, in Castle Irvine’s beautiful Walled Garden.

The Senior International Tetrathlon organising committee would like to thank Castle Irvine, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Mahon’s Hotel and the many local businesses, including Severfield, GR White and Son, Balcas and Belmore Court and Motel, as well as sponsors from further afield for their support.

Further updates and information about the event will be available on Castle Irvine Facebook page.