The Untameable Origin

The incarnation of the Untameable Tri club, came from a misinterpretation of the abilities of the president himself.  A maverick and lone wolf by nature, trusting in his own methodologies, a fellow swimmer enquired to me, as to whether I was ‘training him’ – to which I answered, ‘he is untrainable’…..  An immediate (and deliberate) misunderstanding ensued, with the president declaring himself ‘Untameable’.  As a newly formed club of friends and random encounters, the values are somewhat unconventional and combine a blend of tough love, with alternative motivational techniques – the latter including car park ‘beer club’ and a lot of karaoke.  Despite all this, the membership has resulted in a surprisingly unique group of multi-sport athletes that love to train and banter hard. 

Latest News

The last knockings of the summer race scene saw some balmy warm conditions on the UK coast one weekend, replaced by ‘stormy conditions’ just a week later. 

The heatwave hit Bournemouth for the ITU qualifier as ‘Champ’ was out trying to make it to Malaga next year for the World AG Champs – fortunately the usual below-par swim was rescued by an uphill zig-zag run into transition which helped regain places and enable him to get on track and get the qualifying spot.

Barely 6-days later the Beast ‘went long’ at Weymouth but suffered the frustration of only have 2/3rds of the event available to him as the swim was cancelled due to adverse conditions – it just means he’s got to go back and get it done.   

As the Tri-season finished, the UT girls hit the running courses and were rewarded with some excellent times at Oxford Half, with the boys racing the day before at Keysoe XC.

16th October 2023

The Untameable Mums (and Macaulay) returned to racing at Dorney in September after a lengthy lay off. 

The Rev showed that her biking was in fine form as she hung on in a very close encounter with Helen.  Superb efforts all round!  

Whilst this was happening, in another part of the country Gibbins was  braving the waters around Hever Castle to complete her 2^nd Castle series race – just France and Ireland to complete the series!

24th September 2023

The full gang were out in force to brave the elements of a British bank holiday weekend. Great day out despite maybe getting trench foot from the wet!

206km on the clock and a cracking pizza in Watlington were the highlights!

26th August 2023

After many years in the making and scrupulous attention to detail in selecting the correct pantone, we are delighted to showcase the new range of raspberry & black Untameable Triathlon Kit.

Inspired by 80’s TV & football kits, we have a range of sleeved tri-suits, cycling jerseys and bib shorts. We were delighted to work with Scimitar who have offered us an excellent solution in the form of their Elite cycle range.

25th August 2023

After a lengthy hiatus of updates on the UT website, I am pleased to say that we are back with more news. The last 2 years following the pandemic has seen new additions to the UT squad (no not Chester), but in the form of a couple of mini-UT’s as we announced safe arrivals of Teddy & Kit, leaving their mothers triathlon careers on the back burner for a period. Alongside this our own R23 Pro, actually became just that and is battling to navigate her way through it all, despite having to visit El Presidente’s doctor to deal with some back issues.

The highlights of spring & summer 2023 saw UT finally launch the long-awaited club kit and the inaugural UT Sportif, along with training trips, races and socials…..

25th August 2023

Mallory Park was the opening venue for a scorching race around the motorbike track with a rare UK non-wetsuit swim, where champ learned that giving up 2 mins on the swim, wasn’t going to get him on the podium! Boscombe and the rough waves and shark spotting was enough to send the Hamiltons into a meltdown, one lost at sea and the other still sick enough to fall off the bike….. A surprised super-sprint victory for The Rev, was just what she needed pre-1/2 ironman.

A few trips to away destinations, enabled the Aquabikers to cut their teeth….. a puncture and a swim beating for PP and El Presidente were the outcomes of the initials races, but both made big comebacks, with PP gaining the top step at Conquer the chilterns.  El Presidente went AWOL for the morning to produce a strong ‘behind closed doors’ performance at Dorney. Our other novice champion Macaulay also stepped up to the full sprint distance for a great race.

Finally the big event of the summer (no not Bermuda) – Outlaw ½, as the 3 outlaws (Gibbins, Rev & Skipper), ended their 2 year wait to finally get to the starting line at the inaugural Bowood Outlaw. With a huge support crew in tow (drawn in by the knowledge that some new cheeses were on offer) they were treated to some outstanding performances from all 3, including a quick shuttle back to transition from the chipless Gibbins. Might as well make it as hard as possible!

21st September 2021

The UT contingent has been out racing over the last few weeks.  First in action at the Bowood Sprint, was the original favourite schoolboy, who managed to finish a full race without getting injured before it, or decorating himself over the payment.  An AG podium position was the outcome of a solid race, again in the time trial style (swimming still crap!).

The crowds were swarming in Marlow the following weekend as the whispers and rumours were true, with Amazon originals star El Presidente starring in the finale of his own series ‘Replacing’, leading a strong squad of 23, Skipper & Gibbins out to battle.

Sadly the big comeback was blighted by a puncture and a 30min wait in a Marlow bus stop protecting himself from the elements, a somewhat disappointing end to an excellent swim and 30K bike. It was left to 23 to steal the show, with a stunning victory in the female section (4th overall!), despite again taking the club penalty for entering under a rogue club.

Skipper showed that despite getting a new tri-suit for her birthday with sleeves, she could undress just as quickly as before, supplementing a strong performance with the transition expertise.  Hopefully Gibbins has realised that strolling to get in at the side of the river (a la David Lloyd etiquette) is the way to keep giving away her lead to fellow competitors, plus any unnecessary inner tubes can be offloaded earlier than mid-run.

6th July 2021

UT’s strong legged champion R23 has been in race action (albeit under the incorrect Club name; disciplinary pending) over the last few weekends, turning out at the Herts Tri & Leeds as well as crit racing.    

At a super strong field in Leeds, she narrowly missed out on a podium spot taking 4th place in category & a very impressive 7th female overall.   When asked about her performance, R23 was keen to mention that it was “the pre-race fuelling of tea cakes” (what’s a teacake?) that had given her the extra edge. 

The top step won’t be far away soon we are sure.

9th June 2021

Like much of the world, the UT gang has been head down and training hard during the spring/winter months of lockdown, but the real test was to see what state they all were after the hibernation period!  

The early swim session (in Baltic conditions!) brought out a lot of faces to the lake.

18th May 2021

Racing has started, and the first to re-surface following a winter of bike bullying from Gifford was El Presidente’s original protégé, sporting a long sleeve long distance suit (never going to happen!) to brave the freezing conditions of the Bedford Autodrome and the World Duathlon AG qualifiers.

A solid performance in the Covid friendly TT format resulted in qualification and a very near miss off the podium.

18th May 2021

The long awaited surgery for El Presidente occurred during lockdown 2.0, as at last he joined lieutenant Dan and got his ‘New legs’.  UT’s leader had been 1-legged for a while now surving on a diet of protein & narcotics (the choice of champions apparently) whilst using the pull buoy for literally every daily activity.

The paps were out in force to see his homecoming and was spotted on crutches getting out of the back of the UT A-Team van.   A spokesperson for El Presidente said ‘Woof woof woof’ (‘where’s my lead and why aren’t you taking me for a walk’ – Dave).

We wish him well and expect to see him back stronger to confirm his position as joint European Aquabike champion.

2nd December 2020

The x3 groups set out on a staggered start (x2 at the full distance + x1 at a slightly curtailed version), with the aim that the ‘fast’ group would catch the others close to the end.  With some poor navigation skills in said group, their finish was a little later than expected (albeit would’ve been even later, but for the abilities of debutant Ben to rescue the route!).

With a COVID19 based picnic carefully socially distanced up on the beautiful surroundings of the monument, a great ride and fun time was had by all (with a few tired legs in the mix too).

11th July 2020

The UT’s president, mentor & leader found himself on the tarmac this weekend, following a slo-mo wheel clip with a rider.  

Fortunately the outcome was cut hands and road rash, with minimal damage to his Cervelo pride and joy.   Commenting hours after the event – “I was drawn into the pastel coloured socks” which suddenly stopped pedalling, leaving me no-where to go, but crashing to the deck.  

A passing cyclist who was an eye witness to the crash, mused – “I thought it was a strange place for a selfie”.   

El Presidente plans to be back on the bike this weekend.

13th June 2020