Donegal family to be put through their paces on Ireland's Fittest Family
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Kathy-Ann Gibson and children Jessica, Matthew and Joel will fly the flag this Sunday evening
A Donegal family will feature in Episode Two of Ireland's Fittest Family on RTÉ this Sunday.
The Gibson family from Killygordon will team up with former Dublin footballer Michael Darragh MacAuley to take on families from Laois, Tipperary and Cork.
Mum Kathy-Ann, 49, is a PE Teacher and TY Coordinator at Raphoe Royal and Prior. She played badminton and hockey until two years ago.
She now does her own fitness routine and swims once a week. The staff in her school convinced her to sign up this year - her children have been wanting to do it for the last five years!
Daughter Jessica, 14, is a new addition to the team, as her older sister Hannah was the family’s first pick, but due to scheduling conflicts, Hannah is unable to compete.
Jessica is a second student at the Royal and Prior School, Raphoe. Son Joel, 19, is a first-year student at Magee University of Ulster studying Sport and Exercise Science. He plays football for Dergview United, Castlederg.
Son Matthew, 21, is in his third year at the University of Ulster studying Engineering and is currently on placement in Manchester. He comes home every second weekend. He plays rugby for his University and Coleraine.
Taking place in the historic Haulbowline Navy Base, the Heats will unfold over three weeks. Each week, two coaches will go head-to-head, each with two families.
All will be battling it out for one of the three places up for grabs in the next round of the competition at Hell and Back. This year the events are demonstrated by members of the Irish Navy. The families must each take on a new twist to Raft Rage.
Starting in the cold naval basin, this is a head-to-head race finishing with a rope climb from the sea onto an enormous Naval Patrol Ship. The four families then have their stamina tested by Drill Down. Based on punishing Navy drills, the family have to take turns to tackle a leg of the course, proving their strength and agility.
With the scores of the first two events combined, the two highest-scoring families go through to the next round, and the two families at the bottom have to face off in our Navy Eliminator.
Episode two of the series airs on Sunday on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 6:30pm.