52 Irish Prepare For European Triathlon Championships

Bryan Keane is set to lead the Irish challenge at the European Triathlon Championships in Geneva this weekend as he is joined by promising junior elite, James Edgar, elite paratriathlete, Aidan McGlynn and a team of 49 age group triathletes.

Keane has shown what he's capable of this year with a 5th place finish in the Chengdu World Cup and 13th place finish in the top tier Yokohama World Triathlon Series to his name already.

The Cork triathlete cruised to a new course record, previously held by London Olympian Gavin Noble, two weeks ago at the Hell of the West triathlon which he used as part of a heavy block of training.

"I've got to keep the foot on the gas and keep training away and I've got to aim to be at least inside that top 10. If my run is good on the day you never know how far inside the top 10 you can go."

Ranked 35th in the World Triathlon Series, Keane goes into the European Championships ranked 13th on the start line. The race organisers have opted to retire the race number 13 for superstitious reasons so you will see Keane with number 14 on the swim cap, bike and body amongst a field of 69 athletes.

The honour of wearing number one goes to Russian swim specialist, Dmitry Polyanskiy with fellow Russian strongman, Alexander Bryukhankov wearing number two.

Despite this, favourite for a fourth European title is four time World Champion, Javier Gomez of Spain. With the absence of Alistair Brownlee and the non-European contenders the Spaniard looks hard to beat over the 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometre bike and 10 kilometre run.

In the PT4 Paratriathlon category, Aidan McGlynn lines up alongside 13 athletes including 2014 World Champion, Martin Schulz of Germany. McGlynn, a newcomer to the sport of paratriathlon has made a promising start to his Paralympic Qualification campaign with two 6th place finishes and a 4th place finish to his name at World Paratriathlon level. McGlynn needs another top result to build his ranking and push for a seat on the plane to Rio in 2016.

James Edgar, 16 years old and racing with the recently established Lisburn Triathlon Club has shown considerable talent in his short triathlon career to date. Edgar cruised to a victory at the Crooked Lake triathlon earlier this summer, beating off stiff competition from a talented field of senior athletes in the process.

Edgar will be one of the youngest athletes to line up alongside 73 of the top juniors (16-19 years) in Europe.

Along with the elite racing on display this weekend, Ireland has a strong team of 49 non-professional age group athletes who've secured qualification for the championships. Among them and pushing for a podium finish will be former Commonwealth Games representative Trevor Woods, who lines out in the 45-49 years age group over the Standard Distance.

In the ladies 50-54 years Sprint event, Ireland's Elizabeth O'Connor will be hoping she can add another European medal to her trophy cabinet. O'Connor picked up the bronze medal at the European Duathlon Championships back in April so if she is in contention after the swim she has a real chance of a podium finish.