Cork athletes train for gold at Aura

News released: 14th Aug 2009

The quest for sporting success has to start somewhere and for two young Cork athletes it starts at Aura Youghal Leisure Centre. Christopher Mintern and Stuart Hickey are two local stars whose sporting careers are set to scale new heights.

Christopher Mintern is a triathlete who has been training at Aura Youghal every summer for the last few years. His recent successes include the Churchtown South Road Race where he came 2nd in the junior section and the Youghal Triathlon where he finished 24th overall in the men’s section and as late as last week he competed in the Tramore Aquathon where he was the overall winner. The young Cork man has now been selected to join the Irish Junior Triathlon Squad. He has been training at Aura all summer under the supervision of Aura’s fully qualified fitness instructors in preparation for his upcoming races.

“All of us here at Aura would like to extend our congratulations to Christopher on his recent successes. He has been training with us here all summer and it is great to see how all of his hard work and dedication is really paying off. We are delighted to support him in any way we can and will continue to do so in order to help him reach his future sporting goals,” explained Tracy Kenneally, Operations Manager at Aura Youghal Leisure Centre.

Stuart Hickey is another local sporting success story who has been perfecting his skills and training hard at Aura’s top class facilities over the summer months. He has just returned from Athens where he represented Ireland in the World Karate Championships. He reached the quarter final stages of the competition where they were knocked out by the eventual winners of the tournament.

“At Aura we are proud to sponsor and support local sporting talent. It is also our priority to cater for people of all ages and abilities. We all have different levels of fitness so while our first class facilities will give serious athletes the chance to maintain their fitness levels, it also gives those people who are not as fit the opportunity to kick start their fitness routine under the supervision of our fully qualified fitness professionals,” explained Tracy.

“The fact that we have been part of helping produce such great local sporting success stories is a reflection of the excellent facilities and the dedicated staff that we have here, we pride ourselves on offering first class facilities and professional guidance to everyone that comes through our door,” added Tracy.

People are also being reminded that Aura Youghal is currently taking bookings for their fitness advisory service which is a nutrition and lifestyle based advice service which helps people establish what type of fitness routine or workout suits them best. To book your fitness assessment with Aura’s fitness professionals contact the centre at 024 91614.

“We find that very often when people first start working out, they are not entirely sure as to what programmes, classes or routine is most suitable for them. That is why we are introducing this fitness advice service to help people choose the best fitness and workout programme they can. It is all about helping people get the best out of their gym experience and finding a health and fitness programme that best suits their needs,” added Tracy.