The Orkney 2025 silver medallist and University of Nottingham ‘fresher’ embraced the opportunity to race for Ireland, marking her international debut at the Africa Triathlon Junior Cup Yasmine Hammamet with top spot in a very unfamiliar field.
She donned Guernsey kit to win the warm sprint-distance race 1hr 7min. 9sec., finishing 2min. 31sec. clear of Morocco’s Chayma Biar with Russia’s Anastasiia Romanenko taking third.
The small junior field otherwise included four Tunisians, another Russian, and even a Namibian.
Kennedy was ‘really happy’ to take the win after sharing with her rivals a feeling of not knowing what to expect.
‘When you’re in the UK, you know everyone,’ she said.
‘To go in and see how the race unfolded, it was great experience and was a bit more realistic, rather than just racing people you know all the time.’
The race unfolded in the seaside resort of Yasmine Hammamet, with the bike and run both being multi-lap waterfront courses.
Kennedy had been squeezed on the start line but latched onto Romanenko by the first buoy, completing the swim in runner-up position and just 3sec. behind the Russian.
Both took a tumble on the third of five bike laps but Kennedy recovered the better, going on to post the fastest leg by nearly 1min.
Her concluding run split was surpassed only by Biar, who overtook the Russian along the way.
Kennedy had travelled over with a small Irish contingent competing in the senior elite races.
This adventurous race continued a successful start to the season, where at junior level she has placed third at the British Triathlon Super Series performance assessment and second at the BUCS Sprint Championships.
This follows a big step-up in training hours at the high-performance environment of Nottingham.
‘There’s people racing at the World Triathlon championship series and aiming to go to the next Olympics,’ she said.
‘Being around that is obviously going to boost your confidence.’
Kennedy’s own upcoming targets include the BUCS Standard Distance Championships and European Cup racing.
But she also has her distance vision on Faroe Islands 2027.
Kennedy, who competed in the pool at Guernsey 2023, feels the organisers’ decision to pre-emptively relocate the swim may play further in her favour.
‘It would suit me well with the pool swim – in the Super Series, I think that suited me well.
‘Hopefully we’ll have a good Guernsey team going.’
She has thanked the Guernsey Sports Commission and her family for the support, which she feels can ‘make the difference between a silver and gold medal’.
