Competitors at the King of the Hill triathlon. Credit Martin Jancek
TRIATHLON IRELAND JUNIOR squad member, Con Doherty, scored a great result at the Tabor European Cup in the Czech Republic, when he claimed seventh place this week.
Doherty, the youngest athlete in the race at just 16 got off to a slow start in the swim, exiting the water some 50 seconds behind the leader. Once on dry land, Doherty worked hard to take seventh place in what was a tight finish.
“Coming into the second transition I was at the front of the pack so had a quick transition. I started to work with Belgian athlete, Geens, and we picked off some of the slower runners from the lead pack.”
In Kinsale, Co Cork, a host of fellow junior squad members led the charge out of the 750m swim at the Vodafone National Series, King of the Hill triathlon. In wave two, another youngster, Emma Skarkey, led the ladies out of the water in less than 10 minutes. Onto the cycle leg and Trevor Woods used his powerful biking to take the lead by the turn point and extended it to two minutes by the second transition. Woods, an accomplished runner had no trouble holding on and took an easy win. Local reports suggest this is Woods eighth victory in the King of the Hill triathlon.
In the women’s race, Deirdre Casey pulled out a lead on the bike and held on in the run to take a comfortable win by a margin of three minutes. Coming into the second transition, there were four or five ladies in contention for the podium. In the end it was Andree Walkin who took second place, with Jennifer O’Connell in third and Katie Fitzgerald in fourth.
This weekend, all eyes will be on Aileen Morrison who competes in the London Olympics at 9am on Saturday.
