Para Series Fourth for McCarthy & Sean Husband
Resilience, grit and determination saw Donnacha McCarthy and Sean Husband battle their way to a fourth place finish over night in Devonport, Australia. Today’s finish is a career best at Para Series level for the pair and another nod to their current form, just a couple of weeks ago they won World Triathlon Para Cup Abu Dhabi.
Read our preview of this weekend’s international action.
Contenders
Donnacha and Sean were right in the mix from the off, coming third out of the rolling sea swim.
Weather conditions on the technical bike course made things challenging for the field. McCarthy and guide Husband suffered a crash on the bike but were able to remount and get back underway.
On the run Spain’s Jose Luis Garcia Serrano closed in on Donnacha McCarthy and Sean Husband in the closing metres of the race and the two teams sprinted for the line, and the third spot on the podium. Garcia Serrano held on to claim third, Australia’s Sam Harding and guide Luke Harvey was the winner on the day with Lazar Filipovic (SBR) and Guide Strahinja Travic in second.
Exciting to be Part Of
Speaking after the race Donnacha McCarthy was thrilled with the result, and described how the race unfolded for them;
“Really happy with that result, it’s our best World Series finish of our career here today.”
“The race itself was a little bit chaotic. It was quite a tough swim in the open water in the sea and it’s been quite windy here all week. A little bit of a choppy, tricky swim to do but got out of the water in third and out onto the bike.”
“We took a bit of a spill on the fourth lap which cost us a bit of time but in fairness we got back up on the bike and back into transition, then worked our way into third on the run.”
“Unfortunately we got out sprinted at the end then to finish in fourth place. Overall, really positive, really happy with the result.”
Sean Husband added;
“The conditions on the bike left things quite difficult from a technical aspect, we were in second place for a while.”
“It was a really demanding course but a really exciting race to be a part of.”
The pair weren’t the only team to encounter some trouble on the bike course, as Husband describes;
“When we got back on the bike and started putting down some power, we soon realised that there were other nations that had also come off further up the road – so by no means did the crash completely take us out of the race.”
Fortunately there are no serious injuries from today’s crash, but there is some road rash.
“Thankfully there’s no bones broken, just flesh wounds.”
“We’re happy with the result, obviously we’re disappointed to miss out on third place but that’s racing and given the circumstances we have to be very happy that we were able to race our way back up into that top four.”
Congratulations Donnacha and Sean!
A thrilling season opener and a great way to start their 2023 Para Series campaign in a Paralympic qualification year.
