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# CANOEING: Ireland’s two senior competitors at the Canoe Marathon World Championships finished in the top 20 in their classes in Rome today. In the women’s K1, Jenny Egan had a frustrating run which included a capsize and was eventually placed 16th. This was just over seven minutes behind Renata Csay of Hungary. In the men’s K1, Peter Egan was 17th. The event was won by Spain’s Ivan Alonso.

Canoe Marathon World Championships – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

K1 Senior: 1 Spain (I Alonso) 2 hours 11 mins 43.120 seconds; 17 P Egan 2:16:28.870.

Women

K1 Senior: 1 Hungary (R Csay) 2 hours 1 minute 2.710 seconds; 16 J Egan 2:08:05.460

Published in Canoeing

# ROWING: Niall Kenny won his repechage to qualify for tomorrow’s semi-finals of the lightweight single sculls at the World University Championships in Kazan in Russia. The 24-year-old Galway man had finished last in a difficult heat earlier, but he led through all four quarters of the semi-final, beating Rusian Momot of the Ukraine into second. Estonia’s Tamor Bakhoff took the third semi-final place.

World University Rowing Championships, Kazan, Russia – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Heat Two (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Netherlands 6:08,18, 2 Germany 6:08.22; 3 Italy 6:16.97, 4 Ireland (E Mullarkey, S O’Connor, S O’Driscoll, T Lynam) 6:24.25.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Switzerland 7:07.60, 2 Poland 7:08.95, 3 Italy 7:09.48; 4 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:29.71. Repechage (Threee to Semi-Finals; rest to C Final): 1 Ireland (Kenny) 7:48.29, 2 Ukraine 7:50.64, 3 Estonia 8:20.69; 4 Malaysia 8:29.94.

Women

Four – Heat Two (Winner to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Russia 6:51.90; 2 Poland 7:04.19, 3 Ireland (A Greene, E Kerrigan, H Lavery, C McIlwaine) 7:17.07.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:53.86, 2 New Zealand (L Tester) 7:59.70; 3 Czech Republic 8:02.39, 4 Mexico 8:27.96, 5 Italy 8:40.06.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Three of the four Ireland crews are bound for repechages after the first round of competition at the World University Rowing Championships in Kazan in Russia. The men’s four finished fourth in their heat and the women’s four third in theirs. Lightweight single sculler Niall Kenny finished fourth in a heat he led for for the first 1,000 metres.

Ireland’s day started with a fine win for Claire Lambe in her heat of the lightweight single sculls and she will go into Sunday’s final as one of the favourites.

World University Rowing Championships, Kazan, Russia – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Heat Two (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (E Mullarkey, S O’Connor, S O’Driscoll, T Lynam).

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Switzerland 7:07.60, 2 Poland 7:08.95, 3 Italy 7:09.48; 4 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:29.71.

Women

Four – Heat Two (Winner to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Russia 6:51.90; 2 Poland 7:04.19, 3 Ireland (A Greene, E Kerrigan, H Lavery, C McIlwaine) 7:17.07.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:53.86, 2 New Zealand (L Tester) 7:59.70; 3 Czech Republic 8:02.39, 4 Mexico 8:27.96, 5 Italy 8:40.06.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Claire Lambe won her heat to qualify directly for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World University Championships at Kazan in Russia this morning. The 22-year-old Dubliner is Ireland’s top hope of a medal. Niall Kenny finished fourth in his heat of the lightweight single and must compete in a repechage as must the women’s four, who finished third in their heat.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Two athletes who represented Ireland at senior level in the recent World Rowing Championships are part of the country’s team for the World University Rowing Championships which take place in Kazan in Russia this weekend. Claire Lambe and Niall Kenny will compete in the lightweight single sculls. Lambe finished 11th in Bulgaria and Kenny 15th.

Lambe also placed fourth at the World Under-23 Championships, and the Ireland men’s four is built around the crew which finished 11th at that event, with Shane O’Driscoll replacing Finbarr Manning. A women’s openweight four will also compete.

Ireland Team for World University Championships, Kazan, Russia

Men – Four: E Mullarkey, S O’Connor, S O’Driscoll, T Lynam. Lighweight Single Scull: N Kenny.

Women – Four: A Greene, E Kerrigan, H Lavery, C McIlwaine. Lightweight Single Scull: C Lambe.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland’s adaptive coxed four finished fourth in their B Final, 10th overall, at the Paralympic Rowing Regatta at Eton Dorney this morning. The crew of Anne-Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot fought it out for third with Brazil, finishing just .14 of a second behind the South Americans. Canada battled with France at the head of the field and won.

Britain beat Germany in the A Final to win gold, with the Ukraine taking bronze.

Paralympic Rowing Regatta, Eton Dorney – Day Three (Irish interest)

Legs, Trunks and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – B Final (Places 7-12): 1 Canada 3:31.17, 2 France 3:32.01, 3 Brazil 3:36.58, 4 Ireland (A-M McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:36.72, 5 Russia 3:42.73, 6 Belarus 3:45.18. A Final: 1 Britain 3:19.38, 2 Germany 3:21.44, 3 Ukraine 3:23.22, 4 China 3:23.43, 5 Italy 3:27.91, 6 United States 3:30.06.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland finished fourth in their repechage of the Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four at the Paralympic Games at Eton Dorney this morning and will compete in the B Final (places seven to 12) tomorrow. There were two places on offer for the A Final and the Ukraine and China set an impressive pace and qualified in first and second, holding off Canada and Ireland, with Russia fifth.

Canada were A Finalists in Beijing, but the standard in this event has improved radically: Italy won gold in Beijing with a time of 3:33.13, almost 10 seconds slower than Ukraine’s winning time this morning. Italy and the United States qualified for the A Final from the second repechage, where all the crews bar one were faster than the gold medal-winning time in Beijing.

Canada, Ireland and Russia will be joined by France, Brazil and Belarus in the B Final.

Paralympic Rowing Regatta, Eton Dorney – Day Two (Irish interest)

Legs, Trunks and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ukraine 3:23.53, 2 China 3:25.03; 3 Canada 3:28.82, 4 Ireland (AM McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:34.85, 5 Russia 3:43.84.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Month for August. The Cork-based athlete overcame an illness prior to the Olympic Games at Eton Dorney and represented Ireland well. She was unlucky to be drawn in an extremely tough quarter-final, where she finished fourth in a race won by eventual Olympic Champion Mirka Knapkova. Puspure won the C Final well, placing her 13th overall at her first Olympic Games, and suggesting that her ambitions of climbing the world rankings are well-grounded.  

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2012. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2012 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland’s adaptive mixed coxed  four of Anne Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot will compete in a repechage tomorrow after finishing fifth in their heat at the Paralympic Games at Eton Dorney today. The Ireland coach, John Armstrong, was pleased with the Ireland performance, and they were never far off places two to four. The race was won well by the dominant crew in this discipline, Britain, who claimed the one direct qualification for the A Final. The top two crews in tomorrow’s two repechages will qualify for Sunday’s A Final.

Paralympic Rowing Regatta, Eton Dorney – Day One

Legs, Trunks and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Heat Two (Winner Directly to A Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Britain 3:23.59; 5 Ireland 3:33.95.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: The junior men’s pair of Chris Black and Joel Cassells were again the stars of the show for Ireland as they won the B Final at the World Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria this morning with the best time they have ever clocked in competition, six minutes 47.92 seconds. In a fiercely-competitive grade this crew might well have been contending for medals in the A Final, but came up against three of the best crews in the semi-final on Saturday in Romania, Germany and Greece and finished fourth. Black and Cassells then targeted a win in this morning’s race which would give them seventh overall and they brought it home in remarkable fashion. They were credited with one minute 36.29 for the first 500 metres, and the race plan set by coach Seamus Reynolds went so well that as Croatia, Poland and France fought it out behind them, the Irish were never seriously challenged, and won by almost two seconds.

Earlier, Claire Lambe finished fifth in her B Final of the lightweight single sculls, 11th overall. The Dubliner was fourth for a great deal of a fine race, which was won by Italy’s Elisabetta Sancassani ahead of China’s Miao Wang second, with outgoing World Champion Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil only capable of taking third. Early in the final quarter Lambe made ground of Beltrame and contended for third, but the Irish woman was passed late on by Alice McNamara of Australia, who took the fourth spot. Switzerland’s Pamela Weisshaupt, the World Champion in 2008 and 2009, and twice a World Cup winner this year, finished sixth.

World Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Five (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:47.92, 2 Croatia 6:49.81, 3 Poland 6:50.99, 4 France 6:54.82, 5 Belgium 6:56.86, 6 United States 6:57.78.

Women

Lightweight Single Scull – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Italy (E Sancassani) 7:45.78, 2 China (M Wang) 7:47.60, 3 Brazil (F Beltrame) 7:47.87, 4 Australia (A McNamara) 7:49.29, 5 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:56.68, 6 Switzerland (P Weisshaupt) 8:01.59.

Published in Rowing
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Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020

Irish Sailing Performance Head Quarters

Irish Sailing's base for the exclusive use of its own teams are located on the grounds of the Commissioners of Irish Lights in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The Irish Sailing Performance HQ houses the senior Irish sailing teams such as Olympic Silver Medalist Annalise Murphy

The HQ plans were announced in May 2018 and opened in March 2019.

The HQ comprises a number of three converted shipping containers and a floating slipway and pontoon

The HQ aim is to improve both training and educational opportunities for them, thereby creating systematic medal potential.

The Performance HQ is entirely mobile and has space for briefings and athlete education, a gym, gear storage and a boat maintenance area.

The athlete briefing room can then be shipped directly to international competitions such as the Olympics Regatta and provide a base for athletes overseas.