By 
CARRICKMORE’S Aaron Travers secured his place at the Hyrox World Championships, which will take place next June in Stockholm, Sweden when he excelled in Dublin recently.
The former champion boxer, who only started competing in this relatively new sport 18 months ago, raced twice at the massive Dublin event where he learned a lesson about breaking in footwear before competing!
Travers improved his time by almost two minutes, simply by wearing different trainers on his second day of competition.
“I competed twice! On the Thursday I competed in the single pro and on the Saturday I did another single pro,” he explained. “On the Saturday I got a faster time by 90 seconds. I put it down to the footwear I wore on Thursday.
“I just wasn’t stable for the stations but I’d never worn them in training or competing before, it was really stupid. I’ll know for again!
“It’s something I tell my clients never to try and then I went and did it myself!”
That time on the Saturday was 56.41 minutes and it was good enough for eighth overall and third in the 25-29 age-group, qualifying him for the World Championship in the process, which he feels will help him organise a more relaxed schedule between now and June.
“There were Elite 15 athletes from all over the world [in Dublin], World Champions included, so the competition this year compared to last year was savage,” he added.
“I was happy [with my time on Saturday] because there was only 48 hours between the events and I’ve qualified for the World Championships from that, which takes the pressure off.”
Travers performance in Dublin leaves him ranked 29th in the world on times and he feels he’s well placed for 2026 when he hopes to qualify for the Elite 15 race at the World’s.
In order to do that, he feels he needs to improve his running but given his height and greater mass, he realises that’s easier said than done.
“I’m sitting 29th in the world. It’s a positive sign because I’ve only been competing for a year and a half, so to be the close to the Elite 15 is a good sign,” he beamed.
“I’m in a good position for next year. I’ll book a few races between March and April to give me a 12-16 week running programme to build on my running. My stations are where I want to be but my running isn’t.
“I’m 20kg heavier than the Elite 15 athletes and that’s not really going to change, so I have to get quicker at this weight, which is possible.
“So, that’s the plan now, to race in March and April and then get the head down for June.”
As well as qualifying for the Elite 15 at the World’s, Travers is also keen to take ‘the next step’ and earn a medal in Sweden.
“The Elite 15 [at the World Championships] is the goal, so there are two more Elite 15 races before the Elite 15 at the World Championships, so the goal is to get into one of them,” he said.
“The first World Championships I did I came 15th in my age-group and last year I was fifth in my age group and 12th overall, so this year I want to get the podium.
“Obviously I want to push for the win, but the next step is to aim for the podium.”
