by Perri Williams
Athletics Ireland sent a team of eight athletes to this year’s European Race-walking team championships held in Podebrady. This is an opportunity for the athletes to test their current fitness against the top European athletes and rank up some much-needed ranking points for the road ahead to the Tokyo World Championships.
Olympian David Kenny (Farranfore) has been regaining form since a return to fitness following the injury that sidelined him from Olympic participation last year. He looked impressive in his first outing at the World Tour in Raheny last December and on Sunday he looked equally impressive as he clocked his second fasted time ever to finish 11th in a season’s best of 1:20.54. Now coached by Olympian Jamie Costin, Kenny has his eyes firmly set on Tokyo. Matthew Glennon (Mullingar) also took part but it was not to be for the Mullingar Harrier on this occasion.
Our rising stars, that are our u20 athletes, showed tremendous poise and class as they finished 13th and 19th respectively in the u20 race, both with new personal bests. The 2024 u18 European silver medalist Séamus Clarke (Moy Valley) finished 13th in a new personal best of 43:22. This is a substantial improvement on his previous best of 43:22 which he recorded at the World team championships in Turkey last year. Coached by his mother former Olympian Deirdre Gallagher, this was Clarke’s first time dipping under the 44min barrier. Matthew Newell (Tuam), the European u18 number three, also recorded a new personal best of 44:52 as he finished in 19th place. Newell dipped under the 45-minute barrier for the first time and knocked almost a minute off his time from Raheny last December. Newell is coached by Jamie Costin and Pierce O’Callaghan. Both athletes are targeting European majors this summer.
The ladies had a 20km team with Kate Veale (West Waterford) and Aisling Lane (Mullingar) teaming up for the occasion. Veale has been a stalwart on the race-walking scene for decades. Known for her previous world youth title, she has worked hard to cope with the longer distance of 20km. Coming off an injury which bothered her in the early part of the season, Veale is progressing through her season with Tokyo in mind. She finished 29th. Aisling Lane is emerging into the senior racing ranks and finished 31st.
Olympian Brendan Boyce (Finn Valley) came out of retirement to team up with Joe Mooney (Adamstown) in the men’s 35km. Mooney produced a season’s best of 2:43:04 to finish 28th while Boyce finished 30th in a time of 2:58:26 as he resumes his racing progress.
Irish race-walking has showed tremendous progress at the under-age ranks over the past five years, thanks to the Rob Heffernan racewalking academy initiative. The fruits of this initiative are now beginning to ripen as these athletes are emerging into the u20 and senior ranks. With many of the athletes having former Olympian’s as coaches, the drive to success is driven at all levels and from all angles – cementing a bright future for Irish race-walking.