Derry father, daughter duo to represent Ireland at World Aquathlon Championships
The 2025 World Aquathlon Championships take place on Friday, June 27 at Pontevedra in Spain
Derry father-daughter pairing Eddie and Lily-Mai Burton are gearing up to represent Ireland at the 2025 World Multisport Championships Aquathlon in Pontevedra, Spain later this month.
Eddie (54) and Lily-Mai (18) both qualified to represent Ireland with strong performances in their respective age groups last season after remarkable comebacks to multisport.
With her impressive progress in youth triathlon halted during the covid-pandemic, Thornhill College student Lily-Mai marked her return with a storming victory in the National Aquathlon Championships in Galway (16–17 female) last year.
Eddie, a seasoned athlete who once raced against the likes of Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Ian Hammer, has made an impressive transition to triathlon over the past ten years, following seven knee surgeries.
Despite an Achilles tear and tendonitis last year, the two-time National Aquathlon Champion, is relishing the trip to Spain—having placed in the top 10 in his age group at the 2022 World Aquathlon Championships in Slovakia.
Competing in the sprint event, which involves a 1-kilometre swim followed by a 5-kilometre run, will mean “so much more this time around”, says Eddie, a teacher at St. Therese’s Primary School in Derry.
“This time, it will be extra special. It’s been a fantastic journey for us—to train together, compete together, and now to represent Ireland together as father and daughter. Personally, it will be a very proud moment for me and a tremendous experience for Lily-Mai.
“It’s not just the two of us who have been on this wonderful journey—the whole family has been involved in the process. My wife Caroline, who is also a teacher, and the girls Lauren (21) and Annie (12), have been such great support. We’re all in it together and that has been a real boost.”
Lily-Mai will complete her A-levels in Biology, Chemistry, and Maths just a week before the event and “can’t wait to celebrate” by competing alongside her dad.
“It’s been so lovely to train with my dad to compete in the same event. At times the training has been hard, especially with the additional stress of exams, but the event is just a week after my last exam so it will be a great way to round off all the hard work.”
Lily-Mai, who works part-time as a lifeguard at Foyle Arena, plans to pursue a degree in Biomedical Engineering at Ulster University in Belfast next year.
Her journey into multisport began as an under-14 triathlete. The Covid-19 pandemic halted her triathlon progress, leading her to focus her efforts on running. On the track and trails, she competes for both Thornhill College and City of Derry Spartans in cross country and athletics. Her teams have been district champions multiple times and Ulster Cross Country champions on two occasions. They recently placed just outside the medals at the All-Ireland Cross-Country Championships.
2024 marked her return to multisport, and it’s been nothing short of remarkable. In March, she competed in an aquathlon alongside her little sister, Annie, before participating in the Liam Ball Triathlon alongside her dad in May, and then winning gold in the National Aquathlon Championships in the same month.
A teacher at St. Therese’s Primary School in Derry for the past 23 years, Eddie has an impressive athletics pedigree. As a teenager growing up in northwest London in the late 1980s, he regularly raced against some iconic names, including Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, and Ian Hammer, competing at the same league events as Linford Christie and John Regis.
A promising cross-country runner, Eddie’s career was interrupted by a broken ankle in 1990 while preparing to qualify for the World Under-20 Cross-Country Finals. He made a comeback in 1993 and fondly recalls racing Eamonn Martin in a 1500m shortly after Martin won the London Marathon—finishing second to the former Olympian in an impressive 3:57.
He would be plagued by injury in the years that followed. In 2015, Eddie made a return to competitive sport in triathlon. He has since represented Ireland at various multisport age group events as well as helping establish an impressive sporting legacy at St. Therese’s PS in Galliagh—leading them to six local league football titles, five cup wins, multiple shields and plates, two city finals victories, and an all-county title.
The 2025 World Aquathlon Championships take place on Friday, June 27 at Pontevedra in Spain.