Rebecca Lowe (right) with members of the Ireland squad for the Pony Club Tetrathlon International Exchange. The squad includes Amelie Henson and Tom O'Rourke. Photo: Mel Doyle.

Local trio travel to Australia for tetrathlon event

Kieran Galvin

Published: Wed 1 Jul 2026, 11:06 AM

Last updated: Wed 1 Jul 2026, 11:10 AM

Local trio Rebecca Lowe, Tom O’Rourke and Amelie Henson travelled to Australia last Sunday for the Pony Club Tetrathlon International Exchange.

Rebecca from Moydrum, Athlone is one of the team chaperones with the Ireland team along with Julie Quinn, while Tom and Amelie (also from Moydrum), are among the athletes competing.

All three are former South Westmeath Pony Club (SWPC) riders and are members of Athlone Swimming Club. As SWPC disbanded earlier this year, Tom and Amelie joined Offaly Pony Club. Amelie is also known for her prowess in Gaelic football with Garrycastle and Westmeath.

The International Tetrathlon Exchange takes place every two years between Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. This year’s competition will be hosted by Pony Club Australia over the course of three weekends in July.

Each competition will be held in a different venue with the first one kicking off this Saturday, July 4 in Yandina & District Pony Club (Doonan).

The teams will then move onto Mudgeeraba Pony & Hack Club (Gold Coast) for the second competition, with the grand finale being held in West Toowoomba Pony Club, as part of the Queensland State Tetrathlon Championships.

In extending best wishes to the squad, Irish Pony Club described it as "an amazing opportunity for all involved" and noted that competitors will have some downtime between competitions with activities such as surfing and snorkelling likely to be on the agenda.

The Irish squad consists of ten girls and six boys representing pony clubs from across Ireland, and the Chef D’Equipe is John Flood.

A tetrathlon is a team competition and a variant of the modern pentathlon without fencing. It comprises four disciplines: shooting, swimming, riding and running.

Ireland squad: Jamie Hargaden, John Asple James, Sean Cooke, Tom O’Rourke, Daragh Walsh, Peter Verling, Grace Quinn, Ellie Dillon, Katie Dillon, Amelie Henson, Tianne Kelly, Grace Murphy, Anna O’Callaghan, Clodagh Reilly, Emily Quinn, Margaret Verling.