The four-phase competition comprises shooting, swimming, running and horse riding. It is considered a modern recruiting ground of the Olympic sport of Modern Pentathlon. The Pony Club is an international voluntary youth organisation for those interested in ponies and riding, which has been credited as the starting point for a majority of equestrian team members and medal winners.
The upcoming event was organised by Heather and Jonny Williams, key figures of the Pony Club Tetrathlon in Northern Ireland, both with equestrian backgrounds, and parents to tetrathlon athletes, Sophia and Patrick. Running between August 2-4 it will see athletes from the UK, Ireland, the USA, Australia and New Zealand all competing at Castle Irvine (also known as Necarne Castle). “We’ve been doing a lot more training and building up — we’ve actually become a force to be reckoned with in our little Northern Ireland province against the Irish and English in Pony Club Tetrathlon,” says Heather, head of the Northern Ireland Tetrathlon Committee, on preparation for next month’s competition.
“We were really honoured that the UK asked us to host this international and also the senior regional, which does happen every year in the UK, and has been in Northern Ireland once before in Necarne, but that was a good 10-15 years ago. We’ve never been asked to host the International before. “Some of the Pony Club UK Committee had been in place when the Regionals had last been hosted in Necarne around 2007.
Necarne was a great event,” she continues. “When I took over a couple years ago and they knew I was based in Fermanagh, I think it put it on the radar that Necarne was a great venue for an International and for the Regionals, so they asked us last year if we would be willing to host it. “I suppose I didn’t realise the amount of work involved, but we’re getting there.
It’s a great opportunity, great for Necarne to be put back on the map again at an international event, and great for Co Fermanagh in terms of tourism and bringing people to the area.” Heather’s son Patrick is an esteemed tetrathlon athlete alongside Sophia. Both were named Vice-Captains of the UK Senior Girls and Senior Boys teams for the event, having won in last year’s UK Pony Club Tetrathlon Championships in England, with hopes to defend their titles later in August.
Sophia recently returned to Fermanagh to compete after taking a year out from A-levels, before taking her place at Liverpool University to study Veterinary Medicine. She says she’s delighted that the international event is taking place on her home turf. Having completed his A-levels after studying Chemistry, Biology, and Maths, with hopes to study Medicine in the future, Patrick speaks about his early beginnings with Tetrathlon.
“I did my first tetrathlon when I was maybe nine or ten, and it was an event that I thought suited me, because I already did running, swimming and horse riding on my own — tetrathlon is an event where all those individual events are brought together,” he says. “I did quite well from a young age, so with the highlights from my junior career would have been when I was 12 or 13. “I’ve been doing it for a few years at that point, and I won the Irish Nationals, which gave me a lot of motivation and belief that I could actually achieve quite high levels in that sport.
“I kept on training and persevering, and I’ve gotten quite a few accomplishments over the years, obviously with my biggest one being last year where Sophia and I won the UK Championships. “I’ve accomplished little achievements; it’s kept me motivated to keep training and getting better.” On working to balance his sports career and education, he explains.
“Over the last few years, as I’ve gotten older and as school has become more important, and pressure increased away from the sporting world — sport is an escape for me. “It’s given me a chance to forget about school, work and everything else that’s going on around me — it also gives me a chance to just clear my head. “When you achieve things and you’re doing quite well in the sport of your choice, it’s motivation in itself to keep going.
” As he’s kept achieving high placings in the UK Championships, it’s given him confidence to keep training hard. “It’s also a really nice atmosphere with lots of people you wouldn’t really see throughout the school year, so I’ve got friends from England, Scotland and Wales that I see in the summer,” he says. “You’ll find that people that are younger than you start looking up to you when you’re achieving higher levels.
It’s an escape for me and it’s an opportunity to try something different that a lot of people wouldn’t already do.” Regarding the importance of the event, both Heather and Patrick agree that it’ll have great benefits to the county. “The fact that such a big event has found its way to Fermanagh, means the people will come and support,” says Patrick.
“It should be a good occasion to show people what it’s about and open people’s eyes to it, because I know that a lot of people that I know don’t really understand what it is. “In that sense, such a big event being local will show them what it is and maybe spark some interest — in people that have individual interests in shooting, running and horse riding.” Heather adds to this, saying: “It’s quite nice that people are coming to our territory this year and we can stay at home.
“As Patrick says, it raises the profile of the competition locally, as well as raises the profile of the Pony Club in Northern Ireland and of the people — it’s a way of attracting tourists to the area. “Personally, I think it’s especially important for Necarne, which was an international eventing venue. Two years ago, we were over at an event in England where we met William Fox-Pitt (an international equestrian).
“He remembered competing at Necarne and had great things to say about it, so we’d love to be able to put it back on the map — the more we can do here, the better. “I think it just needs the publicity that I think it deserves. It probably sat within the Pony Club for many years, and was maybe only known in the Horsing community.
” Heather mentions that Modern Pentathlon athletes make their start through Tetrathlon. However, she explains that issues with horses and their welfare at 2020’s Tokyo Olympics gave Modern Pentathlon a high profile, though it was not positive. This year’s Paris Olympics will be the last year Horse Riding will be in the Modern Pentathlon, and will instead be replaced by Obstacle Racing for 2028’s LA Olympics.
“It’s unfortunate because a lot of tetrathletes and Pony Club triathletes will have aspired to go on to do Modern Pentathlon at a National, European and Olympic level. But obviously, changing the horse out for Obstacle Racing changes that a little bit,” says Heather. “I think we’re going to have to fight harder to keep Tetrathlon, to publicise Tetrathlon and keep it at a high level because of this latest development with Modern Pentathlon.
“I think the only way we can do that is by increasing publicity for the event and hopefully the Olympic Committee might just change their mind and put horses back in after LA, but it’s in a bit of contention, with a lot of Pony Clubbers up-in-arms about that, but the decision has been taken. “So, I think we just need to publicise Tetrathlon and raise awareness of it outside of Pony Club, and I think this event will certainly help that.” The Williams all look forward to next month’s event.
“This is my first time at an international event, so I’d just like to say that I’m really looking forward to meeting and competing against Australians, Americans and people from New Zealand, people that I never would’ve met before — it’s a rare opportunity and it’s a privilege to have a leadership position in the UK team,” says Patrick. “I’m really looking forward to competing and meeting people, building more links and making new friends. “I think it’s a very rare and exciting opportunity for me — I just can’t say enough how much I’m looking forward to it, and how privileged I feel to have that leadership position.
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