Triathlete Reid a Superb Second at World Series Final

Irish Olympic triathlete Aileen Reid ends her season ranked eighth in the world after finishing a superb second at the World Triathlon Series Grand Final in London last Saturday.

After finishing 43^rd at last year’s London Olympics, Reid came back with a bang this year. She started her season with a 3rd in the Oceania Sprint Triathlon Championships back in February and, in her eleven races since then, has never dropped lower than 17^th place. In August, she finished 2^nd at a sprint race in Hungary and then 9^th in the Stockholm World Series round.

In London, Reid made a powerful start in the 1500m swim, coming out of the water in 10^th place behind the leader Emma Moffatt of Australia. That gave her a place in the lead pack for the 40km cycle, where the slippery conditions and tight turns took their toll. Determined not to fall – as she had done twice before on this course – Reid cycled “like a granny” and survived.

She set off on the 10km run in 16^th position, with 21 women still in contention for the title. By the end of the first lap, Reid was with a group of six that included Great Britain’s Non Stanford, who soon began to dominate up front. Despite a 15 second time penalty for a transition infringement, Standford still came home first in 2:01:32. In the battle for second place, Reid timed her push to perfection, crossing the line in 2:01:57.

In the men’s elite race a day later, Bryan Keane finished 27^th in 1:50.36, and produced the fastest cycle leg of the day. Winner was Spain’s Javier Gomez in 1:48.17, with Jonathon Brownlee of Great Britain a second behind for second.

Earlier in the week, the Irish junior and U23 elites has been in action. In the junior women’s race, Emma Sharkey finished 13^{th in 59 mins 13 secs} with a good swim and cycle. Aaron O’Brien was 20^th in the junior men’s race in 53 minutes exactly, with Christopher Mintern 67^th in 58.58. In the men’s U23 event, Russell White held his own in the swim and cycle and finished 35^th in 1:48.58.

Four Irish paratriathletes made their international debut, with Michael Delaney, a former Para-cyclist finishing 9^th in the Tri 6b visually impaired category guided by Matt Coughlan. In the same category, Belgium-based Nicolas Dewalque finished 15^th. In the T4 upper arm impairment category, Denton Howard was 26^th and Mark Phillips 35^th.

Top results in the age groups came from Matt Molloy 4^th 4-44 years age group, Kevin Thornton 10^th 25-29 yrs , Marie Triona Keane 15^th 30-34 yrs and Jennifer O’Connell 18^th 35-39 yrs. A record total of 266 Irish age group triathletes were in action.

Full reports and results  at  www.triathlonireland.com