Bobby Behan a former Irish International Triathlete, who currently works as a Director Sportif / Team Manager for Specialized Bicycles, setup “Bobby Behan Triathlon Coaching” in December 2007. Since then Bobby has held numerous training weekends, one to one sessions and tailored group sessions, which have all been a great success.

The primary aim of Bobby's coaching service aim is to create a social, fun and enjoyable environment where he can enrich the lives of triathletes of all abilities by sharing his love, passion, expertise and knowledge of triathlon with them, following his twenty years of experience in sport as an athlete, mentor, coach and manager.

 

Coaching Ideology:

“As an Irish Athlete, growing up in County Laois with an aim of representing Ireland at top level, the biggest obstacle I faced over the years was finding support systems here in Ireland. There was never a problem finding the most complex training programs available over the internet, but finding a coach who could watch, analyse and support me during training was one of my biggest challenges. I believe that regular direct attention from a coach is crucial at any level regardless of whether an athlete aspires to race at The Olympics or aims to complete their first triathlon. Regular, sustained direct coaching is in my opinion an athletes most important and crucial tool for success.”

The primary aim of “Bobby Behan Triathlon Coaching” is to create a facility and service for athletes of all levels whereby they can get direct attention from a coach in a highly social and fun environment. Although, Bobby will not be providing written training programmes, at each of the camps he will offer his guidance to any athlete who seeks advice on how to prepare for their current and future goals in a questions and answers type format.

“Direct coaching attention enhances self belief, vision, motivation, technical advancement, training quality and most importantly enjoyment of our sport.”

Experience:

Bobby believes that most of the athletes who attend his clinics will be people who combine their love of sport with work, family, social life and normal day to day commitments. “I am actually really looking forward to working with athletes who have a love for triathlon and combine all of this with a normal daily life. I found great satisfaction in 1999 in The USA after working with many athletes in this capacity”.

However, at the other end of the envelope, Bobby has the tools and experience required to assist athletes who aim to compete at either top domestic level, or internationally.

Bobby has pretty much participated at all levels. “I know what it takes to be a top age grouper (in 1999 Bobby was the North American Age Group Champion) and in conjunction with that combining training and sport with a normal working day to day life (in 2004 Bobby had a successful domestic season while working up to 60 hours per week). At the other end of the scale I have put everything on the line including career, family, social life and have made huge sacrifices to pursue rather lofty goals. If anything for any athlete aspiring to race internationally, I can give them a good lesson on this type of life and what is required and more importantly the pitfalls to avoid! Although, never winning World Titles, I have also experienced what it is like to train with the best and now in my present working capacity I have direct exposure and play a vital role in the lives of athletes, some of whom have won Olympic Medals and are realistically aiming to win Olympic Gold Medals in 2008.”

Who is this for:

Bobby Behan Triathlon Coaching is for everybody from the newcomer to top age group athlete, to elite performer.

Bobby Behan Triathlon Coaching is also aimed at clubs and groups who want to avail of Bobby’s services. Bobby’s services are available in that Bobby will attending club or groups training sessions and offer his guidance, expertise, knowledge and support.

“Based on the initial response to the clinics in time I may aim to hold clinics aimed at certain athlete groupings such as newcomers, athletes who are relatively new to the sport, girl’s only camps, athletes who may never be champions but have personal goals and athletes aiming to compete at top level within Ireland etc. Although representing a very small segment of our sport, but a very vital part of our sport, I will also be available to help and advise any athlete who has put or wants to put everything on the line in order to pursue international goals”.

Excellence:

Bobby believes in providing excellence and a high quality service. To maintain these high standards the initial camps will be limited to only 10 athletes in Laois and Limerick. Rather than diluting the coaching focus by aspiring to cater for large numbers of athletes, the aim of this service is to provide detailed attention to each and every client at every session.

Mentors:

Mentors are people who will be invited to the camps, who will provide a high level of expertise and experience in an area of our sport. Mentors will include:

1. Athletes
2. Coaches
3. Experts in a related field such as injury prevention / sports massage, psychology, bicycle mechanics (the list of possibilities are endless)

Note: The costs of some camps may vary based on the mentor attending