Ireland ‘relay’ team go to Rio

Two Olympians, a national swimming record holder and a champion hang glider will represent Ireland in an international sports event in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil next month.

Olympic rower Gearoid Towey and Tarja Owens, who competed in mountain biking at the Sydney Games four years ago, are part of the Irish team contesting the “Red Bull Giants of Rio”.

Andrew Bree, a silver medallist at the European Short Course Swimming Championships, and Irish hang gliding champion Geoff McMahon complete the line up.

The four-person relay will begin with Bree swimming in the Atlantic, before Owens takes to the mountain bike course up the Corcovado.

The baton will then be passed to McMahon, who will hang glide over Rio de Janeiro, with Towey forgoing his specialist sport to complete the final leg, running on the Copacabana.