Ireland's Keane emerges as surprise winner of triAthlone

It came as something of a surprise when Irish competitor Bryan Keane from Cork ended last Saturday's TriAthlone as the event's new champion. After 1,500 metres in the Shannon, 40 kilometres on bike around Athlone and a ten-kilometre town-centre run, Keane - a relative newcomer to triathlon - triumphed in the elite men's event in the Waterways Ireland TriAthlone 2008, which was also the first official International Triathlon Union European Cup event to be held in Ireland. And there was further cheer of sorts for local supporters as Felicity Sheehy-Ryan, whose parents are from Athlone but who lives in Australia, took the equivalent honours in the female section. Waterways Ireland triAthlone, Ireland's biggest triathlon and fourth biggest triathlon in the world, had a record number of over 2,500 participants and proved an enormous success as up to 12,000 people visited Athlone over the course of last weekend. Irish triathlete Bryan Keane, who came from behind and brilliantly took the lead at the start of the final discipline - the 10km run - finished with a time of 1hr and 45 mins and 59 secs, while Felicity Sheedy-Ryan won in a time of 1 hour 58 minutes and 5 seconds. Keane, who was among a group of 38 elite athletes, finished the swim well down the pecking order in 20th position as French duo Aurélien Raphael and Vincent Luis, the latter having won last year, leading the way heading into the cycle. Keane began to make serious ground around the halfway mark of the 40km cycle and was just four seconds behind Austrian leader Manuel Wuntscher at the second transition. The Corkman then flourished during the run and was more than a minute ahead of his nearest challenger by the run's midway point, eventually reaching the finish line 1min 3 seconds ahead of Miguel Angel Hidalgo. Two-time TriAthlone winner Gavin Noble improved on last year's ninth placed finish to come in fifth, while fellow Irishman David Graham also finished in a respectable 13th position with a time of 1hr 48mins and 55secs. A strong field of Irish elite athletes competed including Aileen Morrison, who came second in the women's event and had a fantastic race. Morrison finished just behind Felicity Sheedy-Ryan and the pair were consistently close together throughout a gripping race. At the conclusion of the swim, it was Morrisson with a slight advantage over her Aussie counterpart but while Morrison experienced a slightly disappointing bike ride, Sheedy-Ryan stayed on the tail of the new leader, Spain's Neus Cuyla. However, an impressive run of 34 mins and 11 seconds took Sheedy-Ryan over the line almost 30 seconds in front of a resurgent Morrison. Sheedy-Ryan had finished third at last year's event which was won by Czech athlete Lenka Zemanova, who didn't compete this time around. Emma Davis, who competed for Ireland at the Beijing Olympics, also took part along with a strong selection of junior Irish team triathletes. All Irish athletes competed in this crucial National Sprint Championship race and European Cup race against a field of international elite triathletes from around the globe, including last year's winner, French cyclist Vincent Luis. Among the other countries represented at this year's race were the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Spain. The event also hosted the Defence Forces Sprint Championships, with Derek Nugent, a TriAthlone Race Director and Defence Forces member, becoming the first Irish technical official at European Triathlon Union Cup race. This year's Waterways Ireland triAthlone event was supported by premium sponsor Waterways Ireland, with significant support also provided by Athlone Town Council.