It is an incredible honour to have one member of a family represent their country on the international sporting field – but the O’Donnells from Moycullen didn’t so much go as one better, but rather went two better as they had three members of the family wearing the Irish singlets recently.

Brian O’Donnell, a serving Garda in Galway who is originally from Cherry Park in the city, represented Ireland in the Aquabike at the recent triathlon series in Pontevedra in Spain; while his daughters, Naoise and Fia, also wore the green singlet in competition.

Naoise, the older of the two girls, took part in the World Long Distance triathlon in Pontevedra, which involved a 3km swim, a 120km cycle, and a 30 km run, all in incredibly tough conditions, with the thermometer reaching as high as 33° C during the day.

Her swim of 44 minutes was the fastest female swim of the day including the professionals in the elite field. She then led her age group off the bike, which included 1,200 metres of elevation, and completed the 30km run coming home over 30 minutes ahead of all the females under 30 years of age and would have been 9th in the professional field.

It wasn’t her first even of the weekend, as she also finished fifth place in the aquathlon on Friday in the U-25 age group, the same day which saw younger sister Fia, who is just 15-years-old, become the youngest age grouper represent Ireland.

She showed she wasn’t out of place either, recording an incredible 23rd place finish in the U-19 category on a memorable weekend for the family.

Pictured: Sisters Fia (left) and Naoise O’Donnell, who represented Ireland along with their father, Brian, at the recent world triathlon series in Spain.