Rathcormac locals prepare to compete in Taekwon-do World Championships
Two Rathcormac teens are set to represent Ireland at the ITF Taekwon-do World Championships in July.
19-year-old Dylan O’Leary and 16-yearold Callum Lees are amongst 53 competitors travelling to Amsterdam with Team Ireland in July.
“They’re really looking forward to it. They both love the art and the sport of Taekwon-do,” said Dylan’s mother, Gina O’Leary. “It’s a great achievement for them to represent Ireland as well as their community and their club and to go to the competition as a member of Team Ireland. It’s an amazing achievement,” she added.
At age four, Dylan, who is currently studying Biomedical Engineering at MTU, began attending Taekwon-do which was originally in Watergrasshill. He is a member of the Red King Club based in the Marina in Cork.
Both of the local athletes have a number of titles already under their belts. At the 2016 World Championships in Brighton, Dylan claimed a bronze medal in sparring and in 2018 he was named the U18 British lightweight champion in sparring, while claiming silver in sparring and bronze in patterns at the 2018 World Championships in Argentina.
In 2019, the young champion took a silver medal in sparring at the European Championships in Cork, and again at the 2022 College World Championships.
Also accomplished in the sport, Callum, a fifth-year student at Coláiste an Chraoibhín in Fermoy, began Taekwon-do at age five. Callum competed alongside Dylan in the U18 team in 2018 in Argentina, where the boys achieved bronze medals for patterns.
During the 2019 European Championships in Cork, Callum claimed a bronze medal in patterns and a silver in sparring and claimed another silver medal in 2020 at the UK British Championships for patterns.
According to Gina O’Leary, the boys have competed in several events locally since they first started competing. Most recently Dylan and Callum competed at the Rathpeacon Open and The Total Taekwon-Do championships where Dylan was awarded one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, while Callum was awarded two gold, one silver and one bronze.
TRAINING INTENSIFIES
Now, the boys are gearing up for the world championships which take place in July.
“They’re training twice a week. It’s the normal training with Ruairí in Red King, and then they have squad training once a fortnight in different locations and they have all their local competitions in between too. The training has definitely kicked up a notch to be fair,” Gina told The Avondhu.
TABLE QUIZ FRIDAY
A table quiz fundraiser will be taking place this Friday, May 27 in the Rathcormac Inn to help raise funds to cover expenses for their trip to the championships.
“They’re flying out on July 26 and they’re home on August 1, they’ll be competing non-stop in individual patterns and sparring, teams, and power and special tech. The fundraiser is a table quiz and a raffle to cover the five days that they’re at the competition, their flights, accommodation and entry,” Gina added.
At 8pm on Friday, May 27, the table quiz in Rathcormac will kick off at 8pm - €40 per table and a maximum of four people per table. See you there!