Dunne and Gallagher Shine in Loughrea
Two days, and two rounds of the BMW Triathlon National Series! Triathlon has had its busiest weekend of the year so far with events taking place in Tyrone at yesterday’s TriTyrone Middle Distance National Championships, Hardman Bantry Middle Distance in Cork and at Loughrea Triathlon in Galway.
A full day of racing saw athletes of all ages enjoy triathlon throughout the day in Loughrea at the event run by Predator Triathlon Club.
All of this weekend’s races are being run in line with the Covid-19 Event Guidelines, providing a safe and fun environment for our sport.
Gallagher Warms Up for Canada Worlds
Maeve Gallagher won this race on its last running in 2019, and yesterday she defended her title in comfortable style finishing fifth overall in the process.
Starting in the first wave with contenders Shannon Kelly, Jennifer O’Sullivan and Limerick Triathlon Club’s Shauna Doellken O’Shea, Gallagher led from the off. Speaking afterwards, Maeve described her race;
“It was a great race, the swim was good. I was happy with the swim and then on the bike, it was kind of a hilly course and quite windy as well.”
“The run was tough but I was happy. I prefer being out front and letting people chase me instead of the opposite way round. It was a great race, I’m just so happy to be back racing, I’m sure everyone is and it’s a great atmosphere.”
Maeve now heads to the U23 World Championships in Canada in a few weeks time.
Finishing second just under three minutes behind Maeve Gallagher, Shannon Kelly put in the fastest 5k run split of the day to try close the gap in the closing stages. Third place went to Shauna Doellken O’Shea.
Darren Dunne wins Competitive Men’s Event
The first wave into the swim contained a number of those who would be hoping to take home the win at this year’s Loughrea Triathlon. Lining up were current Duathlon National Champ Darren Dunne, 2019 BMW Triathlon National Series winner Aaron Doherty and Aichlinn O’Reilly as well as Predator Triathlon Club’s Tiernan Burke and Fabian Mangan in their home race.
Out of the swim Darren Dunne and Tiernan Burke headed on to the rolling 20k bike course simultaneously with a 20 second gap to Aichlinn O’Reilly and a further 20 seconds to Aaron Doherty. Dunne proceeded to gap the rest of the field on the bike and T2 saw O’Reilly and Doherty in second and third. Running 17:40 for the fastest five kilometres of the day, Darren Dunne took his first win of 2021 and was delighted to be back racing;
“I was delighted to get off the bike with a gap, I thought Aaron Doherty and Aichlinn would catch up on me but thankfully they didn’t. I heard I’d about half a minute out of T2 and just put the foot down.”
“I just kept focussed, kept pushing hard…just really, really happy to be back racing and it was just so much fun.”
Aichlinn O’Reilly worked hard out on the run to put a gap back to Aaron Doherty, coming home with a 17:42 run split and 38 seconds ahead of third placed Doherty.
Junior National Championship
Loughrea Triathlon hosted this year’s Junior National Championships for 16 to 19 year olds. Two races made up yesterday’s sprint distance triathlon, the 16 – 17 year old event and the 18 – 19 year old event.
The junior men’s 16 – 17 year old race was won by Finn Harris who led from the start with a super 10:55 swim. Ross McGuinness and William McDonnell were second and third respectively.
Charlotte Moore won the junior women’s 16 – 17 year old event, Olivia Moore was second and Isabelle Perry coming home in third.
In the Junior Women’s 18 – 19 sprint race, Amelia Tyler won the 2021 national title, with Naoise O’Donnell second and Amelia Kane in third.
Sabian Kulczynski put in the fastest run split of the Junior Men’s 18 – 19 field to see off competition from eventual second placed Ralf Bodamer. The pair left T2 just seconds apart with Bodamer leading. Luke Burke finished third.
Results & Picture Gallery
Full results available from Red Tag Timing.
Gordon Thomson’s full gallery from the day can be viewed on our Facebook page.
