MANY congratulations to Carlow Branch member Jamie Hargaden who won gold in the Under 17 men’s competition at the Swiss pentathlon championships in Bern last weekend.

In an event which attracted competitors from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa, Jamie finished fourth in the fencing phase, swam a personal best time of 2mins 16secs in the 200 metre freestyle and won the run and shoot elements in his age category. Peter Galligan (Wicklow Branch) and Jed Collins (Ward Union) finished sixth and 11th respectively in the senior men’s competition.

Next up for the three IPC members is the Under 19 pentathlon world championships in Turkey (July 25th to 30th). After that, Hardagen will be targeting the 1.25m-1.30m young riders’ championship at next month’s Dublin Horse Show having qualified at The Meadows in May on his mother Barbara’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Geron RS.