The Year in Review: Women’s 2019 BMWTriSeries
The women’s BMW Triathlon National Series had it all in 2019 – a newcomer storming the field, the top athletes putting on a tough battle and a nail biting finish!
We review one of the closest battles in years below and list all of the Age Group podium athletes from W20-24 right up to W70-74. Everyone on this list will be honoured at the Triathlon Ireland Annual Awards in the Conrad Hotel, Dublin on November 23rd.
Tickets are on sale now – don’t delay – this event sells out quickly!
A New Series, A New Face
Few people in triathlon had heard of Hilary Hughes at the outset of the 2019 season. But the Westport woman changed all of that with some stunning performances and superb results which culminated in her topping the BMW Triathlon National Series.
That’s not to say that Hughes had it all her own way – this year’s competition was one of the closest in years, as Hughes was gripped in the tightest of points battles with last year’s runner up Amy O’Keeffe. In the end a mere 0.2 points – or 0.5% – separated first and second – a testament to a summer of close and exciting racing.
Eighteen races made up this year’s BMW Triathlon National Series with an athlete’s four best scoring races counting towards their final ranking. One of these races must be a sprint distance event and one must be a standard distance.
A total of 812 women got themselves on to the final rankings table – below we run through the top three and list the gold, silver and bronze medalists for every age group in the BMW Triathlon National Series.
.jpg "Hughes 2019 season")
Hughes Arrives
Hilary Hughes announced her arrival to the triathlon world in May with a second place finish at Lough Cutra Castle Triathlon.
Hughes had a stunning win at Sheephaven Half – picking up 118 points and the Middle Distance National Championships in the process. She was also first in her home race at Westport Triathlon which her a healthy 122.4 points. In all, Hughes raced six BMW Triathlon National Series events and never failed to finish off the podium.
But despite her winning ways, the 2019 BMW Triathlon National Series was only secured by Hughes in the last race of her season where she finished a close second to Erin McConnell in a sprint finish. Hughes collected 125 points in the process – her best points haul of any race.
This result was the winning of the series for Hughes as it enabled her to eliminate a lower scoring race (Sheephaven) from her best four and bump up her overall total from 485 to 492.616 points.
Second Place: Amy O’Keeffe
Hughes could not have known it at the time but with one race left in the season Amy O’Keeffe still had an outside chance of taking the lead. O’Keefe came third at Pulse Port Beach but earned just 118 points for her efforts. A win at Moby Dick could technically see her take the lead on the last race of the series.
O’Keefe started her BMW Triathlon National Series with an excellent second place at Boland’s BMW Hook or by Crook in Waterford.
The Cork TC athlete won at Dublin City Triathlon and was on the podium in all but one of her six BMW National Series races.
Folowing Pulse Port Beach, O’Keeffe went in to Moby Dick a full eight points down on Hughes. Only victory and victory with a huge margin could deliver her enough points to overhaul the leader. O’Keeffe did everything the situation asked of her – winning with a massive haul of 126.659 points, the largest points total any athlete managed from a single race all season.
The ensuing bump to her best-four-races points haul was substantial and brought O’Keefe to 492.397 points – agonisingly close to Hughes’s total but still 0.263 points short of the title!
Third Place: Becky Woods
The close ranking continued on to third place again, with less than five points separating second and third place. Becky Woods finished off her season in third place, after completing seven BMW National Series races.
Woods had a flying start to her 2019 season, placing second at Westport Triathlon and winning I-Tri Ennis. The Piranha Triathlon Club member kept up the streak when she won the AON Loughrea Triathlon too. Woods took a podium place at five BMW National Series races this season and finished off her impressive season at Pulse Port Beach.
WOMEN’S 2019 BMW TRIATHLON NATIONAL SERIES – TOP TEN
| 1 | Hilary Hughes | Westport TC | 492.616 |
| 2 | Amy O’Keeffe | Cork TC | 492.397 |
| 3 | Becky Woods | Piranha TC | 487.594 |
| 4 |
Kim Hickey
|
Pulse TC |
482.861
|
| 5 | Maeve Maher-Mcwilliams | Belpark TC | 479.898 |
| 6 |
Fiona Mangan
|
Galway TC |
478.254
|
| 7 | Ciara Wilson |
473.267
|
|
| 8 |
Brianne Mulvihill
|
Piranha TC |
472.598
|
| 9 |
Olivia Mc Cartin
|
Athlone TC |
465.756
|
| 10 |
Esther Bayon
|
Pulse TC |
460.374
|
Overall Age Group winners
| Age Group | Placing | First Name | Last Name | Club |
|
20-24 |
1 | Fiona | Mangan | Galway TC |
| 2 | Lauren | Strange | ||
| 3 | Niamh | Corry | Piranha TC | |
| 25-29 | 1 | Amy | O Keeffe | Cork TC |
| 2 | Ciara | Wilson | ||
| 3 | Natasha | Kelly |
247 Triathlon TC
|
|
| 30-34 | 1 | Hilary | Hughes |
Westport TC
|
| 2 | Becky | Woods | Piranha TC | |
| 3 | Maeve | Maher-Mcwilliams | Belpark TC | |
| 35-39 | 1 | Brianne | Mulvihill | Piranha TC |
| 2 | Sarah | Stapleton | Pulse TC | |
| 3 | Ellen | Murphy | Belpark TC | |
| 40-44 | 1 | Kim | Hickey | Pulse TC |
| 2 | Olivia | Mc Cartin | Athlone TC | |
| 3 | Ester | Bayon | Pulse TC | |
| 45-49 | 1 | Donna | Mahon | Belpark TC |
| 2 | Sasha | Gannon | Cavan TC | |
| 3 | Deirdre | O Toole | ||
| 50-54 | 1 | Niamh | Richardson | Kilkenny TC |
| 2 | Denise | Compton | Clonmel TC | |
| 3 | Cathy | Cunningham | Omagh TC | |
| 55-59 | 1 | Siobhan | Kennedy | |
| 2 | Anne | Morrissey | ||
| 3 | Joanne | Bingham |
Olympian TC
|
|
| 60-64 | 1 | Trish | Nicholls | Trilogy TC |
| 2 | Majella | Diskin | ||
| 3 | N/A | |||
| 65-69 | 1 | Berenice | Maher |
Northwest TC
|
| 2 | Marie | Casey-breen | Wexford TC | |
| 3 | N/A | |||
| 70-74 | 1 | Roisin | Lynch |
Northwest TC
|
| 2 | N/A | |||
| 3 | N/A |
PICTURE GALLERIES, RACE COVERAGE & RACE REPORTS
Rewatch the best moments from the 2019 BMW Triathlon National Series through live event coverage posted on the Triathlon Ireland Facebook Page, where you will also find thousands of images from this summer’s series.
Race Reports from each event can be found on the TI website.
All the medalists will be presented with their silverware at the 2019 Triathlon Ireland Awards Night on the 23rd November 2019 in The Conrad Hotel, Dublin. Click here for tickets.
CORRECTIONS/QUERIES/APPEALS
Thousands of athletes have raced the BMW Triathlon National Series in 2019 and from time to time omissions or errors in results, or membership status issues require ranking re-calculations.
If you have a query about your BMW Triathlon National Series points total – please email us at events@triathlonireland.com before 5pm on Friday, 1st November.
Following this deadline, the BMW Triathlon National Series tables will be considered final.
