The Draft-Legal Sprint Distance National Championships, the Age Group National Championships and a round of the Triathlon National Series saw a whopping 700 athletes arrive in the town of Lanesborough to take on the flat and fast closed road course. One of the hottest parts of the country on the day, race organisers Lanesborough Triathlon Club responded to the conditions, providing extra water stations and sprinklers on the run for participants.
An exciting day of racing with stacked fields saw new Sprint Distance National Champions crowned, valuable Triathlon National Series points earned and Age Group National Titles up for grabs.
Full results can be found HERE.
In the men’s event, close racing and breakthrough performances made for an exciting hour. GB athlete Cameron Kerr led out of the swim, with Tom Williamson and Jack Kennedy on his toes. Sean McMahon and Evan Tosh were in pursuit, with Sean McCullagh, Christopher Horgan and Patrick Cole pushing to make the front pack of the bike.
Coming together on the bike course, the lead pack of Sean McMahon, Cameron Kerr, Tom Williamson, Evan Tosh, Shane Dunne and Jack Kennedy gapped the chase pack into T2. Behind them Patrick Cole, Sean McCullagh and Christopher Horgan were working to close the gap.
The front pack exited T2 with Cameron Kerr leading out and extending that to cross the line 38 seconds ahead of second placed Jack Kennedy, winning the draft-legal race.
Pushing hard it came down to a sprint finish and just one second separating Patrick Cole and Evan Tosh on the finish line, with Cole filling the third step on the podium.
A breakthrough performance for Evan Tosh, who recently represented Ireland at Junior level in the World Cross Triathlon Championships Pontevedra.
Emma O’Brien has been having a run of form, winning every National Series race she has entered, and racing French Grand Prix in between. She can now add the Sprint Distance National Champion title to her collection for the first time.
The battle was on from the off between 2024 title holder Saoirse O’Brien and challenger Emma O’Brien. Out of the swim together, the pair had a seven second gap to Katie Youp and Chloe Young. Working together on the bike course, Saoirse and Emma gapped the rest of the field by three minutes at that point.
Coming off the bike, Emma O’Brien pulled away inside the first couple hundred metres of the 5k run course and looked comfortable in the heat, crossing the line in 1:02:06 to secure this National Championship title for the first time.
Saoirse O’Brien claimed silver with a solid performance. Saoirse is coming off the back of her first couple of senior international races, most recently finishing inside the top 15 at Africa Premium Cup Larache.
Katie Youp is on the national podium for the first time, crossing the line in third with a time of 1:06:55.
An absolutely stellar field saw some fantastic racing in hot conditions for this week’s round, also hosting the Age Group Sprint National Championships.
Becky Woods had her second outing of the series, having opened her series with second place in the standard distance at TriAthy a few months ago.
Naoise O’Donnell had the fastest swim of the field, fresh from her win at the Age Group World Triathlon Long Distance Championships. Mary O’Donnell was next, with a ten second gap to Aisling Wyer and Becky Woods.
Woods gapped the rest of the field by almost two minutes with the quickest bike split of the day. Heading on to the 5k run course, an 18:45 run meant Becky’s lead was never in doubt.
Aisling Wyer held her second place off the bike and behind her Megan Roberts had been chasing all day, making up a 90 second swim deficit. Grit, determination and the second fastest bike and run splits saw Megan Roberts secure her bronze position on the podium for the second time this season.
It’s two races and two wins in this year’s series for Naas Triathlon Club’s Donal Mongey. After winning at Clonmel in the first round, Mongey has built on that with another convincing win in tough conditions at Two Provinces.
Ross Killilea led out of the water, having extended a 30 second gap to the rest of the field across the 750m lake swim.
Enjoying the fast bike course, Donal Mongey pulled a minute clear, with Scott Graham behind him working to make his second podium of the week having finished second last weekend in his home event Base2Race Harbourman Triathlon. Conor Maguire was next on the road with, Ciaran Kyne, Ross Kililea, Michael Monahan and Callum O’Neill all inside the top ten of their wave heading onto the run.
Donal Mongey extended his lead on the bike course, putting in 17:41 for 5 kilometres and winning Two Provinces Sprint Triathlon.
With 11 seconds separating Scott Graham and Conor Maguire out of T2, Graham managed to hold off Maguire and cross the line to take second, Conor Maguire third just seven seconds back.
