The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Triathletes qualify for World Championships
THREE Kerry triathletes have been announced as age group winners in Triathlon Ireland’s 2017 National Series.
Paudie Murphy, Ciara Tierney and Majella Diskin, all from Tralee Triathlon Club, performed well this season and are placed among the top triathletes in their age categories.
The Triathlon Ireland National Series encompasses a number of races around the country and participants must compete in a minimum of four to be ranked on the leaderboard. One of these must be an Olympic Distance and one a Sprint distance.
Majella Diskin from Castleisland won gold in her age category of 60-65 with some superb performances racing this year. She won a number of races throughout the season including Up the Creek, Westport Sprint Triathlon and Dublin City Triathlon.
Paudie Murphy from Tralee has won silver in the 65-69 age category after a number of wins on the circuit this year including first place in his age category in Loughrea sprint distance and second in his age category in the Hell of the West olympic distance in Kilkee. He also came third in the Up the Creek in Kilrush.
Ciara Tierney from the Spa won bronze in her age category of 25 -29 following two wins in the Up the Creek and in Moby Dick in Youghal. She also came second in two races this year in what was a successful year for the Kerry triathlete.
She says her performance is down to huge support from her family and friends and especially her workplace, Tricel, who allow her to train and who sponsor her to compete.
Both Paudie and Ciara also represented Ireland in the ITU World Triathlon Championships earlier this year in Rotterdam. Ciara was placed 18th in her age category which was a superb performance and Paudie was 29th in the rankings.
All three have now qualified for the European and World Championships and are hoping to travel to the European Championships next August in Glasgow.
The age group awards will be presented at this year’s Triathlon Ireland annual awards which will take place on Saturday, November 18 in Dublin.
Chairman of Tralee Triathlon Club, Francis Foley, says that it is wonderful to see the club triathletes perform well.
“We are delighted with their success and the success of all our triathletes. This is a strong local club and it is wonderful to see so many do well in the national field.”