By Rory McKee
RACHEL McCann has her sights set on becoming a mainstay in Irish relay squads, but insists she has to earn the right to a regular spot on the international stage.
The calendar year has got off to a blistering start for the North Down Athletic Club star (24), who clocked a personal best of 52.89 seconds over 400 metres at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena on Saturday – just a week after recording a new 200m indoor PB of 23.97s.
No stranger to international competition, the Bangor athlete was part of the Ireland quartet that competed in the Women’s 4x100m Relay at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September.
She also featured as a reserve in Irish squads at the Paris Olympics in 2024 and the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas earlier that year.
The Queen’s University PhD student hopes 2026 could be one of her biggest years yet, during what is a golden period on the track for Irish women.
“After I came back from the World Championships in Tokyo in September, my coach and I sat down and set some goals for this year. Some of them are performance based, for example to run a sub-51 in the 400m,” she explained.
“There are four major championships this year which I’m aiming to be part of. The World Indoors are at the end of March and qualification standard for that is quite tough, but I think it’s acheivable.
“The European Championships are in August and the Irish mixed relay team are the reigning European champions and the women’s came second last time, so to be part of that squad would be amazing,” she added.
McCann is clear she wants to earn her place on merit rather than by default. “There is so much depth in the women’s squad at the minute. I don’t want to be handed an Irish vest, I want to work for it and be there because I’m one of the best rather than because there was no one else.”
Asked about the bigger picture for Irish women’s athletics and the current strength across her specialist distance of 400m, she said: “It’s exciting that there are multiple world class women in the 400m in Irish athletics at the minute.
“I think Phil Healy put the 400 back on the map for Irish women. I remember watching her at the European Indoor final where she came fourth, and to see someone that you’ve raced against get to those finals gives you so much more belief in yourself.
“That was almost a domino effect and with more and more girls coming on, it has just pushed everyone to be that bit better,” she said.
“54 seconds won’t get you on a relay squad anymore, you have to be breaking 53 and even 52 low to get onto squads. We have never seen that kind of depth before.”
