THERE is a common denominator in the rise of both Phil Healy and Nicola Tuthill from West Cork to the Olympic stage: both came up through the ranks at Bandon Athletic Club.
Look at the photos on this page of baby-faced Phil and Nicola in their younger days, proudly wearing their club colours, and their journey to the Olympics has been made possible by the role Bandon AC, and its fantastic coaches, have played in their stories.
There’s a reason both Phil and Nicola (who currently represents UCD AC as part of her Ad Astra scholarship) namecheck Bandon AC when they can because they know this all started at home here in West Cork.
ONES TO WATCH: The first three home in the U15 girls' 1500m at the 2017 West Cork T&F Championships were, from left, Nicola Tuthill (Bandon AC), third; Maeve O'Neill (Doheny AC), first; and Jane Buckley (Bandon AC), second.
‘The club is really proud of the achievement of both Phil and Nicola,’ Bandon AC Chairman Adrian O’Flynn says.
‘For Phil this is her second Olympics, and then to watch Nicola develop on the potential that we saw when she joined the club as a kid. To see both start off their athletics stories with Bandon AC and now reach the Olympic stage is incredible.’
Back at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney another Bandon AC legend, Breda Dennehy-Willis, represented the club on the world stage, competing in the 5000m and 10,000m. She also joined the club at an early age, when she was 12 years old in 1982. Bandon AC’s ability to produce Olympians is remarkable, and the success of Dennehy-Willis and now Phil and Nicola has joined the dots from West Cork to the world stage. It’s made it possible for young local kids to dream of competing at an Olympic level, like Ballineen woman Phil and Kilbrittain native Nicola.
‘As role models, they are outstanding,’ O’Flynn says.
‘Look at what Phil is doing for sport and women’s sport; we have all seen girls drop out during their teenage years but Phil has always been someone who comes back to the club and talks to the young generation, to encourage them to continue participating.
‘Sometimes young athletes develop at different ages and at different times, and it may be later in life that you see the success of all your effort and hard work in those early years, that’s something that Phil has spoken about.
‘Also, look at the resilience Phil has shown in the last few years, to come back stronger again from her health issues and win a European silver medal with the Irish relay team this year and now be back at another Olympics. Our club members can see that and it’s inspiring. Both Phil and Nicola are great examples to our younger generation of the possibilities that exist.’
LOCAL HERO: Bandon AC superstar Phil Healy, pictured on top of the podium here, has helped put her club on the map.
Olympics aside, these are exciting times for this progressive club as work continues on their new development at Clancool Beg, just outside Bandon town, as Bandon AC is building a state-of-the-art facility here in West Cork that will include a 400-metre all-weather track, as well as a field event areas and an indoor training facility.
There’s a reason this exciting project is called a game-changer because that’s exactly what it is: the first facility of its kind in the region.
‘Historically, if you look at athletics it has suffered from having a lack of facilities,’ O’Flynn explains.
‘Even though as a club we have still been able to produce athletes of an Olympic standard, it shows that having the facilities will create the opportunities for kids and adults to dedicate their time to athletics, and have it as a real choice as a sport.
‘When the facilities come they will be a game-changer for everybody associated with athletics in Bandon, and also for West Cork. People won’t have to travel that extra hour up to MTU for their training session, instead they can focus that time on their recovery, nutrition, sleep, whatever else that may be to make sure they are in the best condition for the events.’
The hope is the track will be open for business in the summer of 2025, as work continues, with the final draining expected to be completed in the early Autumn. By then both Phil and Nicola will have put Bandon AC on the world map at the Olympics in Paris because this is where it all started, as kids with dreams that became a reality thanks to their local athletics club.
