Sligo’s Lissadell House played host to Round 3 of the Triathlon Ireland Super Series on Sunday 19th July. Aidan Callaghan from Letterkenny’s 24/7 Triathlon Club claimed the men’s title with Dublin based Eimear Fitzmaurice taking the women’s title ahead of a stacked field.
Callaghan clocked 18:33 for the 1500 metre swim, 1:03:32 for the testing 40 kilometre bike before posting a strong run over the 10 kilometres to finish in a time of 1:59:36.
“It was a tough, tough race. This morning the conditions were pretty rough, looking out at the sea after the finish its calm, but this morning is was rough.” Callaghan told reporters at the finish line.
Omagh native Bernard McCullagh finished 2nd with Stephen Donnelly in 3rd. Cork’s Chris Mintern and Westport Triathlon Club’s Aichlinn O’Reilly both looked to be in contention for the win but Mintern’s challenge was derailed as he took a wrong turn on the bike while O’Reilly was forced to pull up on the run with an injury.
In the women’s race, Fitzmaurice emerged from the water down on the leaders but a 1:10:18 bike split followed by a 37:10 run split saw her take the win in a time of 2:13:47.
“I’m absolutely delighted, wreaked tired but I’m delighted.”
“I was a little bit down out of the swim so I knew I’d have to absolutely hammer it on the bike and the run.” Fitzmaurice commented after the race.
Heather Foley posted a strong bike and run to finish 2nd with Sligo Triathlon Club’s Caoimhe Ni Mhurchu delighted with her 3rd place finish.