Pole Vault Standards on the UP!!

Thanks to the selfless work of a number of dedicated coaches around the island – in particular, Eamonn Flanagan, Noelle Green, Seamus Flynn and Jim Alexander and the team at TSV Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, Pole Vault records seem to be falling on a weekly basis throughout the whole of 2019’s indoor and outdoor season.

Most notable have been two super U23 records – one from Sean Roth (TSV Bayer Leverkusen, Germany) with 5.30m (2nd highest ever by an Irish athlete and now threatening Brian McGovern’s Irish record of 5.35m) and a women’s U23 record of 4.00m by Ellie McCartney (City of Lisburn).

In the younger age groups, Clodagh Walsh 3.65m (U20), Orla Coffey 3.61m (U18), Ciara Hickey 3.40m and Erin Fisher 3.30m (U20) are all smashing their PB’s regularly and are providing great competition for each other. This is a really talented group!

On the Men’s side, we have Yuri Kanash 4.62m (U23), Matthew Callinan Keenan 4.52m (U19), Shane Martin 4.50m, Conor Callinan 4.10m (U16) and Adam O’Dwyer 4.25m (U18) as well as decathletes Michael Bowler 4.60m, Shane Aston 4.30m,  Rolus Olusa 4.25m and Daniel Ryan 4.00m. This is an enthusiastic group that can only get better with the increasing attention to the event.

Much of this improvement has been running alongside the improvement of indoor jumping facilities at National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown, Leevale AC High Performance Centre, Nenagh Olympic AC, Morton Stadium and University of Ulster at Jordanstown. With more access to these facilities we are beginning to attract more coaches and athletes to this exciting event.

If you have an interest in Coaching Pole Vault or becoming a Pole Vaulter, please send a short email with your contact details and information about yourself to field@athleticsireland.ie