HORSE SPORT IRELAND: IRELAND IN NINTH AT ROME MODERN PENTATHLON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Source: News Release/Colin McClelland

IRELAND IN NINTH AT ROME WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

THE Irish Modern Pentathlon team of Sionann O’Reilly Collins and Eanna Bailey finished in ninth position in yesterday's (Wednesday) mixed relay competition at the 2012 World Championships in Rome, Italy.

The team knew that fencing would be their Achilles' heel and they began the day in 11th position after the first event. Fantastic swimming from both athletes saw them win the whole swim event moving them to up to tenth. Further progress in the riding event meant they started the final run/shoot event in ninth place, which they maintained to the finish.

Starting in fencing, athletes fenced for two hits against the respective genders from each of the other teams in the competition. For O’Reilly Collins, this was her senior debut (aged just 17) and was always going to be a tough test. She braved the storm well and took hits of some far more experienced fencers. Bailey performed well to keep the team score ticking over. The pair finished with 13 victories for 640 pentathlon points and 11th position.

Onto the swim and the Irish were seeded fastest in the competition. O’Reilly Collins swam a well with a 1:04.53 for the first 100 metres. Bailey changed over with a 5m gap to make up on the lead athletes which he did within the first 50 metres and then sustained the lead to touch the wall in first place in an overall time of 1:58.93. Bailey’s 100 metre split was an impressive 54.21. Their efforts in the pool were rewarded with an improvement on the leaderboard to 10th position.

The show jumping is also performed in a relay format and each team draws a pair of horses for the competition. O’Rielly Collins did the first leg but had an unfortunate refusal at the first fence, determined riding from then on saw her complete the course with minimal damage to hand over to Bailey who produced a great clear round. Despite the team incurring 132 penalty points from the 1200 maximum their score of 1068 was enough to gain them another place on the leaderboard, shifting them to ninth position.

The combined/run shoot event is staggered with the overall leaders of the competition beginning and other teams following at timed intervals according to the points they have accumulated from the previous three events.

O’Rielly Collins led the Irish team off two minutes and one second behind the overall event leaders from the Czech Republic. Her first shoot was a nervy affair and she spent longer than she would have liked on the range. After completing her first one kilometre run, O’Rielly Collins lost the nerves and produced an excellent shooting performance to gain ground on athletes ahead of her.

She handed over to Bailey just ahead of the athlete in tenth position. Bailey headed to the range for his first shoot where he shot a perfect round, hitting five from five in 9.9 seconds (the fastest yet by and Irish athlete) strong running and a solid second shoot series of 14.4 seconds saw him leave the range comfortably in ninth position with the eighth-placed athlete too far ahead. With the men’s individual event in mind, Bailey cruised round the final kilometre to cross the line in ninth place.

Natalya Coyle will represent Ireland in the women’s individual qualification competition today, where only the top 36 athletes will progress to the final on Saturday.

Bailey lines up again on Friday with team mate Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe for the men’s qualification event where they will both be looking to progress to Sunday’s Final.

2012 World Championships, Rome ITA
Monday 7th May – Women’s Relay
Tuesday 8th May – Men’s Relay
Wednesday 9th May – Mixed Relay
Thursday 10th May – Women’s Qualification
Friday 11th May – Men’s Qualification
Saturday 12th May – Women’s Final
Sunday 13th May – Men’s Final

The 2012 World Championships will be streamed live at:
www.pentathlon.org