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Tenby: 10,000 visitors for the excitement and thrill of Ironman 2017

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TENBY is welcoming over 10,000 visitors today (Sept 10) for the excitement and thrill of one of the world’s toughest races – Ironman Wales. Athletes from 45 countries are participating and are in Tenby for the county of Pembrokeshire’s biggest sporting event. The 2017 instalment of this epic test of human edurance will feature again some of the world’s best professional Ironman athletes competing alongside close to 2200 age group athletes.

Heading up the professional men’s field will be Frenchman Romain Guillaume and Bas Diederen from the Netherlands, along with Harry Wiltshire and Philip Graves from the UK.

As an athlete who thrives on tough courses, France’s Guillaume will be well-suited to the Ironman Wales bike course. He usually adopts the tactic of going hard on the bike, amassing a lead before holding off challenges on the run.

The course in Wales could play to his strengths giving him an early advantage. In terms of results, Guillaume has had a successful, but not perfect season so far.

A good win at Ironman 70.3 South Africa in January was followed up with second place finishes at Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire and Ironman 70.3 Dublin.

At IronmanUK he was in a strong position leading the race on the bike before a fall unfortunately ended his race prematurely.

The Netherlands’ Diederen is an Ironman champion with wins at Ironman Maastricht-Limburg to his name along with strong performances at big races. Similarly to Guillaume, the Dutch athlete is strong on the bike and usually attacks early.

Runner-up in 2016, Great Britain’s Philip Graves, returns to Wales this year with designs on the top spot after narrowly missing out last year.

Another athlete who is strong on the bike, Graves recorded the fastest professional bike split at Ironman Wales in 2016 and with Guillaume and Diederen in the field, an intriguing battle could develop.

Lucy Gossage will be the professional women’s favourite as she comes into the race in supreme form. Gossage has already won Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire and Ironman UK and recorded a second place at Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh.

She has been a near ever-present on the Ironman UK and Ireland calendar in 2017 but was forced to withdraw from Ironman 70.3 Dublin on race morning due to illness.

An athlete with experience at Ironman Wales is Great Britain’s Kate Comber.

Comber placed fifth in Wales in 2016 and has since kicked on, racing in strong fields in 2017.

She narrowly missed out on a top ten at the Ironman African Championship before a 6th place at Ironman Lanzarote and recently achieved her first Ironman podium at Ironman Maastricht-Limburg in the Netherlands with a well-earned third place. She will be aiming to move into the podium positions in Wales this year.

The USA’s Dede Griesbauer will also be one of the podium contenders in Tenby. Griesbauer is a three-time Ironman champion including Ironman UK and has multiple top ten finishes at the Ironman World Championship to her name. The American has the experience of racing at the top level and could be one to watch for a podium.

The 2017 edition of the race will see 2200 athletes from 45 different countries taking on the 2.4 mile swim at Tenby’s North Beach, 112 mile bike through Pembrokeshire and the 26.2 mile run in and around Tenby.

Of the total field, 38.6 per cent of the athletes racing will be racing at Ironman Wales for the first time and the race will once again have Wales rugby legends, Shane Williams and Ryan Jones taking part.

The 2017 edition of Ironman Wales takes place on Sunday with the race getting underway at 6.55 am from Tenby’s North Beach.

 

Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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