Crowe joins Irish team for Europa Cup

SIXMILEBRIDGE athlete Timmy Crowe has been in flying form on the track, so much so that the 18-year-old has been selected on the Irish team for the Europa Cup in Turkey in two weeks’ time.
Timmy, who runs for Dooneen AC in Limerick, put himself in the frame for selection at the Athletic Association Ireland Games at Santry recently, winning both the senior 400m and 400m hurdles in what were effectively trials for Turkey.
Crowe clocked 47.78 on the flat and 52.24 over the hurdles. He will compete in the flat event in Turkey. However, the national selectors have given the hurdles cap to Dublin’s Brian Cregan, who chased Timmy home in the national trials.
The expectation is that Crowe, a physical education and biology student at Dublin City University, will also be a member of the Irish 4x400m relay team to compete in Turkey on June 18 and 19.
Crowe’s progress in the last 12 months has been nothing short of spectacular. Last year, he made the Irish 4x400m relay team for the world indoor championships in Doha by virtue of a personal best time of 48.80, winning silver at the Irish Senior Championships at the Odyssey arena in Belfast.
Then he followed up by getting an international cap at the World Junior Outdoor Championships in Canada. Next on his horizon is Turkey.
His transition from the boards to the track has been seamless.
“Running indoors is that bit more difficult but everything is going well for me right now. I suppose I’m fortunate in that when I got serious about athletics I got expert and professional coaching. It’s about technique and stride pattern and I’ve got the best advice.
“I’m also fortunate in that I have a very professional team around me in Liam O’Hora, Liam O’Reilly, Drew and Haley Harrison and, of course, my father Tim, who has been through it all before when he raced for Ireland in the same disciplines,” admitted Timmy.
“The last year has been phenomenal. A lot has happened in that time and I got to race in three different continents. I competed at the World Senior Indoor Championships in Doha, the World Junior Outdoor Championship in Canada and now I’ll be running for Ireland at the Europa Cup. These are very challenging but exciting times for me,” he added.
While Timmy heads to Turkey full of optimism, he also realises that he’s pitting himself against the cream of the athletic crop in Europe.
“At the moment I’m rated 19th in Europe for the senior 400m and 22nd for the 400m hurdles. For the Europa Cup every country sends their top athletes so in effect it’s as competitive as the European Championships.
“I suppose people don’t realise the effort and sacrifice athletes make to get to this level. I’m not complaining because it has been very rewarding for me. It will be nice to race in the Europa Cup because it will give me a fairly accurate gauge as to where I stand in terms of my development. Of course, it will also tell me if I can perform on the big circuit when I come face to face with some of the top athletes in the world,” he said.