Keane 21st In European Championships

Bryan Keane battled to a 21st place finish at the European Championships in Geneva today (Saturday), finishing in a time of 1:57:27.

Keane admitted to a poor swim which resulted in the leading pack opening up a gap and pulling away throughout the 40 kilometre bike leg. Keane found himself in the second chase pack which also contained the world number 1, Javier Gomez of Spain.

Once off the bike, Keane produced one of the fastest runs of the day in 33:03, a time which would have been good enough for a top 10 finish if the Cork man could have bridge the gap to the leaders on the bike.

The elite men's race was won by Frenchman David Hauss with four time World Champion, Javier Gomez retiring from the race during the run."Hard day's racing out there today, a poor swim and the race just went up the road. Onwards we go." Keane tweeted afterwards.

Keane and teammate Aileen Reid will race next in the World Triathlon Series where round seven visits Hamburg on July 18th before the pair travel for Rio for the Olympic test event on the 1st of August.

Saturday morning saw elite junior triathlete, James Edgar put in an impressive display over the sprint distance. Edgar, just 16 years old and racing with the Lisburn Triathlon Club was among the youngest athletes to make the Junior European Championships start line which caters for 16 - 19 year olds.

Edgar emerged from the 750 meter swim in 8th place amongst a field of 72 leaving him well positioned throughout the 20 kilometre bike leg. Over the final 5 kilometre run he clocked a 16:29 run split to finish 22nd in a time of 58:55.

In the PT3 Elite Paratriathlon European Championships, Kildare native Garett Turbett came home in 5th place in a time of 1:19:43. Turbett suffered a broken collarbone earlier this year but bounced back with a solid result this weekend.

Aidan McGlynn, in the highly competitive PT4 category emptied the tank to finish 10th in a time of 1:01:52. The race was hard fought with McGlynn less than a minute off a top 5 finish. The effort and extreme heat took its toll with McGlynn requiring a visit to the medical tent after the race, however a full recovery was made.

49 Age Group athletes are also representing Ireland at the European Age Group Championships over the course of the weekend with Standard Distance racing set to begin on Sunday.