Club News

It was forecast for rain, but the gods and Joey were looking out for us all; the 22nd Joey Hannan Triathlon took place today in glorious conditions. It was 5pm before the rain fell on Limerick City.
Organised by the Limerick Triathlon Club in memory of a dear friend and fellow triathlete the race is a sell-out year on year, and it is no wonder why. The smiles, attitude and general buzz around the grounds of UL today were amazing. Add that to the sheer talent of the top competitors it is a sight to behold.

Triathlon is growing in popularity year on year and for third year in a row the Adult novice race filled up with a waiting list. This year we were unable to accommodate the demand and some of those on the waiting list were left unable to race. In fact it is such a popular venue, course and distance so early in the season that all 4 distances were chock-a-block! We had over 500 racing over the 4 races: Try-a-tri, Junior, Sprint and Olympic under the watchful eyes of 8 members of the Hannan family.

The try-a-tri and junior races kicked things off at 9am, followed by two olympic waves, and two sprint waves. The campus and surrounding area were like a sea of high-viz-vests with eighty marshals safely guiding athletes through their respective races.

In the Junior event Leah Connaughton had a great race wining by over a minute to Niamh Conerney, with Cian O Keeffe winning for the boys with Ben Ryan in second place.
Aichlinn O Reilly pipped Barney McCullagh to the post for the Sprint triathlon with Limerick’s junior star athlete Darren Dunne in third. First female was Kathryn Fahy who narrowly beat Limerick Triathlon Club’s Lisa Horgan to the win. Lisa had a great race today, it was great to see her in action.

First over the line over the Olympic distance was GoTri’s Alan O’Brien. Alan had a great race and had a strong finish in a time of 2:03. Second over the line but also winning the women’s race was Carolyn Hayes a mere 2 minutes on his tail. Carolyn had a stormer of a race, it was both exciting and moving to watch Carolyn perform to such a high level. Second male over the line was Ross Higgins, from Limerick Triathlon Club, followed by Andy Kinnane 3DTri. Limerick’s Rachel Clancy was second female to finish with Grace Kelly in 3rd.

In the Novice race Robert Gloster won, with Seamus Collins in second and Richard Byrne in third. Aoibhe O BOYLE won the women’s with Audrey O Dwyer in second and Rachel Stewart in third.
Year on year the limerick triathlon club asks of its members to volunteer and year on year they do us proud. We are also hugely grateful to those non club members who helped out, and to the Limerick Swimming Club volunteers who were both professional and kind to the swimmers counting lengths.

A great aspect of this event is the family, racing, cheering and volunteering. We also had many men and women competing in their first event, to great applause from their fans! In the club we are particularly proud of our new swimmers, many who have learned to swim for the event.

We would like to thank Fitzgerald Flowers, Castlecabin, The Red Cross, The Staff of UL and the Sports Bar, Triathlon Ireland, The Hannan Family, O’Neills Foodstore, Our M.C. Rachel Deegan, Limerick Swimming Club, all the athletes, marshals, volunteers, family and friends.

Finally we would like to thank Flannerys Bar on Denmark Street who are putting on a free BBQ with some beers this evening. We hope to see you all there.

Olympic
CATEGORY: TOP > MALE
POS CAT NAME
1 Ages 30-39 Alan O BRIEN
2 Ages 30-39 Ross HIGGINS
3 Ages 30-39 Andy KINANE

CATEGORY: TOP > FEMALE
POS CAT NAME
1 ages 20-29 Carolyn HAYES (234)
2 Ages 30-39 Kim HICKEY (266)
3 ages 20-29 Rachel CLANCY (252)

Sprint Race
CATEGORY: TOP > MALE
POS CAT NAME (#)
1 ages 20-29 Aichlinn O REILLY
2 ages 20-29 Bernard MCCULLAGH
3 Junior Darren DUNNE

CATEGORY: TOP > FEMALE
POS CAT NAME
1 ages 20-29 Kathryn FAHY
2 Ages 40-49 Lisa HORGAN
3 ages 20-29 Joanne FLANAGAN

TRY A TRI NOVICE RACE
CATEGORY: TOP > MALE
POS CAT NAME
1 Open Robert GLOSTER
2 Open Seamus COLLINS
3 Open Richard BYRNE

CATEGORY: TOP > FEMALE
POS CAT NAME (#)
1 Open Aoibhe O BOYLE
2 Open Audrey O DWYER
3 Open Rachel Stewart

Junior Race
CATEGORY: TOP > MALE
POS CAT NAME
1 Junior Cian O KEEFFE
2 Junior Ben RYAN
3 Junior Luke O NEILL

CATEGORY: TOP > FEMALE
POS CAT NAME
1 Junior Leah CONNAUGHTON
2 Junior Niamh CONERNEY
3 Junior Amy KILLEEN