Good Irish performances at European Throws Cup

There were more good Irish performances in Arad, Romania at the European Throws Cup last weekend.

The highlight was Sean Breathnach (Galway City Harriers) throwing an outdoor lifetime best in the shot put of 18.22m for a very creditable 7th place in a world class competition. Minor technical adjustments will see Sean further inprove this mark to over 19m. This is the longest throw by an Irish man in over 25 years and probably the best ever Championship performance.

Michaela Walsh (Swinford) produced a personal best in the Under 23 Hammer with 51.64m. This was very much about getting expereince for Michaela and she will have learned enormously, mixing it with World Youth and World Junior Champions and then watching former world record holder and current world leader battle it out in the Senior event.

Clare Fitzgerald (Tralee Harriers) threw 48.21m in the senior Discus for a seasons best but she can look forward to big improvements on that. Very few competitors threw near their best in a huge field where each thrower had to wait 25 minutes between rounds.

Anita White (DSD) threw an excellent 51.43m in the javelin - a new national record looks on the horizon this summer. There was also a very respectable 13.78m from Michaela Walsh for 7th place in Under 23 shot put competition. Michaela can be sure to be getting medals in this event in future as she is still underage for another 4 years.

Clare Fitzgerald performed well too with 14.72m and 10th in the Senior Shot. She looks like she is in a good place to move forward from this and go over 15 and 16 metres during the summer.

Overall, this was a good performance from the Irish in Romania and huge lessons will have been learned from the experience.

Report by Dave Sweeney (National Throws Co-ordinator)