Show Notes
Irish Olympian and World Champion Gymnast Rhys McClenaghan has been blazing a trail in gymnastics since first taking up the sport as a young boy, and despite the lure of swimming and football, he knew from an early age that gymnastics was the sport that would capture his heart and his mind. He has had huge success in the sport and his star continues to rise as he performs intricate, technical and fast paced routines on the pommel horse. With a trophy cabinet bursting at the seams he was Ireland's first gymnast to win medals at European and World level and to reach an Olympic final.
Some of his key achievements include; becoming World Champion on the pommel horse and winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year. In 2021 he competed in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo finishing seventh in the final. Prior to that Rhys has won bronze in the World Championships in Germany and won Gold at the World Cup in Slovenia in 2019. In 2018 he became European Champion and Commonwealth Champion. In 2016 as a junior gymnast he won the first European Championship medal in history for Ireland, taking silver on the pommel horse at the Junior European Gymnastics Championship.
Based in Dublin, Rhys along with his coach Luke Carson, have one golden goal in mind over the coming months, that is winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At 24 years old Rhys is determined, committed and dedicated to his craft, his love of gymnastics and passion for success driving him to strive every single day to be the best gymnast he can possibly be.
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Jen Done didn't grow up sporty. She swam a bit as a youngster, tagging along to galas beside a sister who was the 'sporty one of the family' and other than a handful of pre-baby marathons, a life in sport was never really part of her master plan. Seven years ago, after the birth of her daughter, she found herself in a very different kind of race, a race against postnatal depression so severe she could not get out the front door, convinced her husband and daughter would be better off without her. Dismissed as "baby blues" by three separate doctors before a female GP finally gave her the diagnosis and help she needed. Somewhere in the middle of it all, her husband suggested she try running again; she managed 30 seconds out the door and back. It was enough to change everything. That 30 seconds became a habit, and the habit snowballed; an IRONMAN 70.3 in Weymouth, her first full IRONMAN in Hamburg, the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in 2023 racing with the IRONMAN Foundation. She launched her own podcast, 'The Toughest Finish Line', to share other people's stories of using sport to fight through trauma and mental health struggles and she is also a triathlon coach. A little over three weeks ago, Jen took on her biggest challenge yet: two full IRONMAN races, on consecutive days, in two different countries. IRONMAN Kalmar in Sweden on Saturday and IRONMAN Copenhagen in Denmark 24 hours later. In this episode Jen recalls and shares insight into her Viking IRONMAN adventure, the highs and the lows, the chaos to the calmness, from lost luggage, to the hectic hours before the race weekend even started and the nausea that almost derailed her ambitious racing plans which saw her become an eight time IRONMAN. Jen talks openly about her postnatal depression and the transformational journey she has been on since that 30 second run seven years ago. She reflects on what she's learned about her own capacity to cope, how strong she is and how far removed this version of herself is from the woman who once couldn't leave the house. This is a lovely episode centred on courage, resilience, self-belief and the importance of a loving support crew to help you take one small step at a time, even when that small step seems impossible.
British professional triathlete Harry Palmer recently took the title for the third year in a row at IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea, an accomplishment that is not often achieved in sport.
Aisling Wyer is an Irish triathlete and member of Naas Triathlon Club who has achieved impressive results at home and abroad all whilst working full time as a solicitor.
Endurance adventurer Sean Conway has lived a life defined by adventure, resilience and a relentless desire to do hard things. Driven by curiosity and an appetite for pushing beyond what most consider possible, Sean has built a career out of testing the very edges of human endurance.
Our first guests of 2026 are familiar names in endurance sport here in Ireland; Rob Cummins and Aisling Coppinger who share with us an honest and inspiring conversation about life, love and longevity in sport.