Neil McKeown RIP

Last week, the triathlon community lost Neil McKeown of Drogheda Triathlon Club.

A member of the club for the last number of years as well as being a swim coach, Triathlon Ireland extends its condolences to Neil’s family, friends and clubmates.

A treasured club member

Neil was a very treasured member of Drogheda Triathlon Club, and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. The club have sent us the following tribute;

Neil McKeown 1975 – 2021

It is with a heavy heart that Drogheda Triathlon Club bids farewell to one of our members who died suddenly on Friday 15th January 2021, while doing his usual training run. We would firstly like to offer our deepest condolences to his family, to his loving partner Cathy, his beloved sons Cian, Brandon and Lennon, his mother Bernie, his brother Alan, and extended family.

Neil came to the Triathlon club via a back door really, working as a swim coach and fitness instructor at Aura Leisure Centre in Drogheda, where we do our indoor swim training. He helped and advised our members, and in the process got infected with enthusiasm for the world of triathlon. Once he completed his own first “Battle of the Boyne” 2.7k swim in 2017, he then became a promoter for the event and gave invaluable assistance to others preparing for their first Boyne swim. He cracked the half-Iron distance in Dun Laoghaire 70.3 in 2019 and next step was to be Ironman Portugal in 2020 had the pandemic not led to its postponement. His club will dedicate their training and participation at Ironman and Ironman 70.3 in Portugal-Cascais in October 2021 to Neil’s memory. Other than the Drogheda Triathlon club, he had very strong ties to Mako Tri club too, and had coached many of their members too.

While working at Aura Drogheda, Neil had also taught many of the children of our club members to swim and he was very much loved by the children in his swim classes. In the Drogheda area, there has been a massive outpouring of grief at Neil’s death which is testimony to the person he was – ever-cheerful and helpful to others, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for sport, but with many facets to his character. To those who only knew him through sport, in recent days we have been hearing of wide ranging interests outside of sport, with his passions ranging from history to music and he was a skilled chess-player to cap it all.

Looking back over old photos, no matter how many others were photographed alongside Neil, he always was the one with the biggest and brightest smile. That high octane smile led to his nickname “Gummy”. When he came to set up his own business some months ago, and needing a catchy but meaningful name, “Gummy Bear” came to mind, and so his last project “Bear Fitness” was born. Sadly, Neil’s life has been cut short in his prime. We salute you, Neil.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis