Displaying items by tag: Patrick O'Leary

19th October 2022

Two-Time Paralympian Patrick O'Leary Announces Retirement

Two-time Paralympian Patrick O’Leary has announced his retirement from Para Canoeing.

Patrick was, for his entire career, a fantastic ambassador for the sport, including representing Para Canoe and Ireland on the ICF Athletes Committee. Having had a series of top results across his career, including his 5th place, finish at the Tokyo Paralympics, 6th place in the Rio Games, and becoming European Champion in 2021, Patrick has made his mark on the sport.

Commenting on his retirement, Patrick spoke about the privilege it has been to pursue the highest honours in sport, and his aim to have his mark on the sport is as much about his reputation as a human being, as well as his results. ‘People won’t necessarily remember your achievements or results, they may even forget your name, but they will remember your reputation and the way you made them feel.’

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26th January 2020

Canoe Awards Gala Honours Stars and Long-Time Mentor

Patrick O'Leary receives his award from Miriam Malone and

The Canoeing Ireland Awards Gala on Saturday night, which marked achievements in the sport in 2019, had plenty to celebrate. Liam Jegou, who will represent Ireland in canoe slalom at the Tokyo Olympics and Robert Hendrick, who qualified the boat, were both honoured.

Paralympian Patrick O’Leary, who also qualfied for Tokyo, was presented with his award by Miriam Malone, the chief executive of Paralympics Ireland. Malone and Karen Coventry of Special Olympics Ireland were keynote speakers at the event in the Spa Hotel.

The roll of honour on the night was long: Jenny Egan was chosen as best senior female paddler of the year in both canoe marathon and canoe sprint; Peter Egan was the chosen senior male in marathon canoeing. The senior Freestyle winners were Aoife Hanrahan and David McClure; Aisling Griffin and Michael Barry took the honours in the Paddle Surf category; Ciara Gurhy and Oisin McKay took the Canoe Polo honours. In the Wild Water category Odhran McNally (kayak) and Darragh Clarke (canoe) were honoured.

Oisin Feery, who starred for Ireland at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, won the Special Achievement award; the Event of the Year was Meelick Riverfest; the Team of the Year, the Ireland under-21 women’s Canoe Polo team. The Community Impact prize went to McMahon Cup.

The Volunteer of the Year award went to a man behind many of the medals won by Ireland in Canoe Marathon and Canoe Sprint, the indefatigable Tom Egan.

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15th September 2019

O'Leary Fourth at Test Event in Tokyo

#Canoeing: Ireland paracanoeist Patrick O’Leary finished fourth in the final of the va’a (VL3 single) at the canoe sprint Test Event at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo. The Corkman has qualified this boat for the Paralympic Games. In the KL3 (kayak) final, O’Leary took seventh.

The venue will hold the sprint canoe and rowing events for the Olypmic Games and Paralympic Games in 2020.

Olympic and Paralympic Test Event, Sea Forest Waterway, Tokyo, Canoe Sprint (Irish interest): KL3 - Final: 7 P O’Leary 46.86. VL3 – A Final: 4 O’Leary 55.623.

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22nd August 2019

Fifth at World Championships Sees Patrick O'Leary Through to Paralympic Games

#Canoeing: Patrick O’Leary realised his dream of qualifying his boat for his second successive Paralympic Games today. The Ireland canoeist finished fifth in the A Final of the VL3 200 metres at the canoe sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary. Curtis McGrath of Australia took the gold. O’Leary, who had won his semi-final, was in fourth or fifth right through a race in which six boats qualified for Tokyo.

Barry Watkins missed out on a chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games in the K1 500. The Irishman took sixth in his semi-final and will compete in a B Final.

Canoe Sprint World Championships, Szeged, Hungary (Irish interest)

Men

K1 500 Semi-Final Three: 6 Ireland (B Watkins) 1:40.38.

Paracanoeing – Men’s VL3 200m A Final (Top six nations qualify for Paralympic Games): 1 Australia (C McGrath) 47.42 seconds; 5 Ireland (P O’Leary) 49.27.

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23rd May 2019

Watkins and Egan Qualify for World Cup Semi-Finals

#Canoeing: Jenny Egan and Barry Watkins qualified for semi-finals at the canoe sprint World Cup in Poznan, Poland. Egan finished fifth in her heat of the K1 200m, while Watkins matched this in the men’s K1 1,000. The paracanoeist Patrick O’Leary reached the final of the VL3 by taking third in his semi-final.

Canoe Sprint World Cup, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest)

Men

K1 1000 – Heat Two: 8 Ronan Foley. Heat Five: 5 Barry Watkins

K1 200m – Heat Two: 5 Ryan O’Connor

Women

K1 200m – Heat Six: 5 Jenny Egan

Paracanoeing: VL3 Men’s 200m – Semi-Final One: 3 Patrick O’Leary. KL3 Semi-Final: 4 O’Leary

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25th August 2017

Egan Qualifies for World Championships Semi-Final

#Canoeing: Jenny Egan has qualified for the semi-finals of the K1 200 metres at the Canoe Sprint World Championships. The Irish paddler finished seventh in her heat this morning in Racice in the Czech Republic, taking a place as one of the fastest losers. Her semi-final is secheduled for 2.44 Irish time on Saturday.

Ireland’s Patrick O’Leary will compete in the A Final of the KL3 200, part of the Paracanoe World Championships, also in Racice. O’Leary finished third in his semi-final. His final is scheduled for 1.30 Irish time on Saturday.

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15th September 2016

Sixth Place for O'Leary in Paralympic Canoe Final

#Canoeing: Patrick O’Leary finished sixth in the Final of the KL3 200 metre sprint event at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro today. The Corkman started quite well, but Ukraine, Germany and Brazil set the pace at the head of the field and took gold, silver and bronze in that order in an extremely close finish - just over a third of a second covered all three. O’Leary was 2.973 seconds off the gold medal and .584 off the bronze. The Irish man placed ahead of competitors from France and New Zealand, who finished seventh and eighth.

Paralympic Games (Canoe Sprint; Irish interest)

Men

KL3 200m - Final: 1 Ukraine 39.810 seconds, 2 Germany 39.909, 3 Brazil 40.199; 6 Ireland (P O’Leary) 42.783.

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14th September 2016

O'Leary Through to Canoe Final at Paralympic Games

#Canoeing: Patrick O’Leary qualified for the Final at the Paralympic Games today. The Galway-based Corkman finished third in the semi-final of the KL3 200 metres. The top four made it through. Britain’s Rob Oliver and Martin Farineaux of France took the top two places and New Zealand’s Scott Martlew was fourth.

O’Leary, who is an amputee, is coached by Neil Fleming. This is the first time the sport has been part of the Paralympic Games.

Paralympic Games (Canoe Sprint; Irish interest)

Men

KL3 200m - Heat Two (First Two Direct to Final; rest to Semi-Final): 1 Brazil 43.033, 2 Ukraine 45.239; 3 Ireland (P O’Leary) 45.977, 4 New Zealand 46.024, 5 France 46.577. Semi-Final (First Four to Final): 1 Britain 42.852, 2 France 43.572, 3 O’Leary 44.135, 4 New Zealand 44.284; 5 Poland 45.189, 6 Australia 45.258.

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14th September 2016

Canoeist O'Leary One Place Off Direct Qualification in Rio

#Canoeing: Ireland’s Patrick O’Leary finished third in his heat and will compete in the semi-finals of the KL3 canoe sprint event at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil won, with Ukraine second. The top two qualified directly for the finals: O’Leary was .738 seconds off the second qualifying place.

Paralympic Games (Canoe Sprint; Irish interest)

Men

KL3 Heat Two (First Two Direct to Final; rest to Semi-Final): 1 Brazil 43.033, 2 Ukraine 45.239; 3 Ireland (P O’Leary) 45.977, 4 New Zealand 46.024, 5 France 46.577.

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19th May 2016

O'Leary Qualifies for Paralympic Games at World Championships

#Canoeing: Patrick O’Leary won his B Final at Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg this morning, placing 10^th overall in KL3 200 and qualifying for the Paralympic Games. The Irishman, who was very close to taking an A Final place, beat Arsen Arsenovic of Serbia and Dylan Littlehales of Australia, who dead heated for second.

Canoe Sprint European Olympic Qualifier, Duisburg, Germany (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

K1 1,000 – Final: 1 Hungary (B Dombvári) 3 min 35.307, 2 Russia (R Anoshkin) 3:35.695; 4 M Fitzsimon 3:38.727.

Women

K1 500 – Final: 1 Germany (S Hering) 1 min 55.378, 2 Slovakia (M Kohlová) 1:55.677; 8 J Egan 2:00.270.

Paracanoe World Championships, Duisburg

Men - KL3 200 – B Final (Places 10-18): 1 P O’Leary 42.882 seconds.

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.