Triathletes from around the world are converging on Athlone for the Waterways Ireland TriAthlone this weekend.
It's the country's largest triathlon over 1,500 competitors will be taking part on Saturday - among them Ireland’s first Olympic triathlete, Emma Davis.
Davis qualified for Beijing following an impressive 15th place finish in her first World Championships in Vancouver at the start of June.
The 22-year-old has made an impression on the triathlon world this year with some excellent performances including three top ten finishes in World Cup events.
It will be Davis’ first major event in front of her home crowd but she will face some stiff competition in the Elite women’s racewhere she will be joined on the starting pontoon by fellow Olympian Lenka Zemanova from the Czech Republic.
Zemanova is vastly experienced and will provide a tough test for Davis, as will 2008 European Junior Champion Emmie Charayron from France.
Ireland will also have three other triathletes competing in the women’s Elite race; Aileen Morrison from Derry and Rachel Boyd and Claire Connor, who are both from Antrim.
Morrison is also one of Ireland’s most promising triathletes after finishing 13th at this year’s World University Triathlon Championships.
Ireland’s number one male triathlete, Gavin Noble, will be aiming to retain the title he won at TriAthlone last year and make up for missong out on a spot in the Olympics.
France have sent a young but highly impressive team to the event including World and European Junior Champion, Luis Vincent, and 2007 World Junior Champion, Aurelien Raphael.
Two top young triathletes from New Zealand, Graham O’Grady and Martin Van Barneveld, will lead the southern hemisphere charge. World Aquathon Champion, Richard Stannard from the UK, will also take to the starting pontoon on Saturday.
There will be seven other Irish competitors in the Elite men’s race apart from Noble, including former Irish Champion Brian Campbell and Junior Heffernan, who races with Carrick-On-Suir in Waterford.
