Irish Wolfhounds Wrap Up First Ever Short Track World Tour Event
The Irish Wolfhounds had their first foray of the season this weekend at the ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal, Canada.
Qualification day saw all three skaters compete over the three distances. Liam O’Brien was first out of the gate in Heat 2 of the 1500m heats. In a messy race, he came in fifth place in a time of 2:55.697 due to being impeded by another skater and he was advanced to the next round. Ryan McAnuff was next up in Heat 5 placing 6th. Sean McAnuff raced in Heat 6 immediately after and came home in 5th place with a time of 2:23.373. O’Brien was the sole Wolfhound to return for the 1500m quarterfinals. Unfortunately, things did not go his way and he finished in fifth in Heat in a time of 3:13.585.
The 500m preliminaries were next on the agenda for the Wolfhounds. Ryan McAnuff posted a time of 44.658 to come fifth in Heat 5. O’Brien ended up recording the swiftest time of the trio with 42.558 for fourth place in Heat 8. Sean McAnuff also came fourth in Heat 9 in a time of 42.873.
The Wolfhounds closed out Day One with the 1000m preliminaries. O’Brien incurred a rule infringement in Heat 7 that meant he was penalised. Sean McAnuff just narrowly missed out on advancing when he came second in Heat 8 with a time of 1:30.993. Ryan McAnuff came fifth in Heat 10 in a time of 1:34.004.
Sean McAnuff was the only Wolfhound to contest the 1500m and 500m repechages rounds on Day Two. He came 6th in Heat 2 of the 1500m repechage quarterfinals in a time of 2:31.552 and 4th in Heat 4 of the 500m repechage quarterfinals with a time of 47.565.
Sean McAnuff was back again on the final day of competition for the 1000m repechages. He was up in Heat 7 where he finished 4th in a time of 1:29.812.
“It was a good start to the World Tour,” Sean McAnuff said. “I felt big improvements in my strength and technique. My goal for next weekend is to focus on my racing strategy and I believe focusing on this will help me advance further on in the rounds.”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to skate the repechage following a fall in the 1500m heats, but I felt like there were promising signs in the lead up to that event,” O’Brien said. “I will build on the racing experience this weekend and push towards better results next week.”
“It was a privilege to once again represent Team Ireland and race alongside my teammates, Sean and Liam,” Ryan McAnuff said. “I enjoyed racing, skated hard and loved being challenged physically and mentally as I raced the top skaters in the world. I’m looking forward to racing again on the World Tour and representing the Irish Wolfhounds!”
The Irish Wolfhounds will be in action again next weekend for the second stage of the ISU Short Track World Tour which will be held once more in Montreal.
