Many congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent Ireland at the World Youth Championships (Boulder and Lead) to be hosted in Helsinki, Finland from 28th July – 2nd August 2025.
Faye Shields – Female U17
Sean Henchion – Male U19
Mountaineering Ireland have been invited to enter climbers into this event to compete against the rest of the world in boulder and lead have selected two athletes to represent Ireland. Two rounds of selections took place with the first round open to climbers who were selected into ‘Tier 1’ of the Youth Team before Round 2 that was open to any climber with proven results that have shown progression through the 2025 season.
Sean Henchion was selected in Round 1 and will look to build on his 2024 season after a solid training block that has taken him to training camps in Manchester, Sheffield, Innsbruck and Munich over the last few weeks. Sean missed this year’s boulder season to concentrate on his leaving cert. but trained solidly through the spring and, with a focus on the lead discipline is now coming into peak shape. Meanwhile, Faye Shields has shown huge progression through her boulder season that saw her finish in 14th place at the last European Cup of the season in Sukoró, Hungary.
Sean and Faye will both compete in the European Cup (Lead) in Bologna on the 19th and 20th July before heading to Helsinki for the World Youth Championships that start on 28th July.
We wish them the very best of luck!