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#Rowing: NUIG had a very good first day at the Irish Championships at the National Rowing Centre, taking four titles.

They won the women's senior four, the women's intermediate eight and the women's club coxed four. Sadhbh O'Connor and Fiona Murtagh added the women's senior double sculls for the Galway club.

Enniskillen took two notable titles: their men's junior eight came through under pressure from Colaiste Iognaid, and the women's junior four won from Bann.

Fionnan Crowley retained his title in the men's senior single sculls. The Castleconnell man - a brother of Aileen, who was doing well in the Ireland pair at Rotterdam - won by under a length from Niall Beggan of Commercial, who came at him hard in the closing stages.

UCD's senior four also successfully defended their title.

Tom Kelly won the junior single - the first Championships for the Kenmare club. Kelly, who turns 17 next month, is coached by Noel Casey, who is 85. Casey as based in Britain for decades and coached British women's crews to the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Carlow's Sadhbh Scully and Ciara Egan won the women's junior double - a first title at this level for the club.

Trinity won the men's club eight in a good race, while Cork Boat Club won the men's intermediate coxed four, and Anna Liffey the women's intermediate pair.

NUIG pushed Queen's hard in the men's novice coxed quadruple, but the Belfast men came through. The women's novice coxed quad from Queen's also won, giving them two victories on a busy day.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Queen’s had a good day at the Lagan Scullers’ Head of the River in Belfast on Saturday. Sam McKeown was the fastest single sculler in the first head, and was most closely matched by three other men from his college club. Queen’s also had the fastest quadruple and double on the day.

Lagan Scullers’ Head, Saturday (Draft Results; selected)

Head One: 1 Queen’s (S McKeown; men’s senior single) 12 mins 15.8, 2 Queen’s (M Taylor, sen single) 12:49.7, 3 Queen’s (R Corrigan) 13:03.9; 5 Enniskillen RBC jun 16 double (T Murphy) 13:12.6, 7 Enniskillen jun 15 coxed quad (D Howe) 13:16.1; 15 Methody (C Purdy; jun 18A single) 14:13.8; 30 Bann (K Shirlow; women’s intermediate single) 15:06.3, 31 Belfast BC jun 18A women’s double (S Gordon) 15:07.8. 60 Coleraine GS (G Lenaghan; women’s jun 15 single) 16:36.6.

Head Two: Queen’s men’s sen quad (M Taylor) 11:01.3; 3 Methody men’s jun 16 quad (T Fleming) 13:08.1; 8 Enniskillen jun 18 double (J Timoney) 14:29.2; 9 Bann (A Christie; inter single) 14:31.1; 16 Belfast BC women’s jun 16 coxed quad 15:05.7; 19 Queen’s (R Smylie; women’s sen single) 15:28.3; 25 Belfast BC (L McCoy; women’s jun 18A single) 16:16.5; 27 Belfast RC (K Foster; men’s club two single) 16:24.8. 34  Carrick on Shannon women’s jun 15 quad 17:07.1. 36 Belfast BC women’s novice double 17:16.0; 42 Enniskillen (L Paton; men’s jun 15 single) 17:35.5. 51 Queen’s (C Hagan; men’s nov single) 18:30.4

Head Three: 1 Queen’s men’s sen double (H Moore) 12:30.4, 2 Enniskillen RBC jun 18A quad (J Timoney) 13:07.8; 7 Belfast BC women’s jun 18A quad (P Mullan) 14:13.3; 10 Methody men’s jun 18B coxed quad (A Waly) 14:31.0; 15 Carrick on Shannon (T Ó Donaile; men’s jun 16 single) 15:41.0, 16 Coleraine GS men’s jun 15 double (O Leitch) 15:41.9, 19 Belfast BC women’s jun 16 double (K Dick) 15:59.8; 40 Lagan Scullers’ women’s jun 15 double (E Darby) 17:04.4.   

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Philp Doyle of Queen’s and Ronan Byrne of UCC won the Championship Double and Sam McKeown of Queen’s the Championship Single on the second day of London Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake today. Doyle and Byrne form part of the Ireland training group at the National Rowing Centre. Tristan Orlic of Neptune also took the junior 18 singles at Dorney. Commercial competed in the Challenge Eight and won a trophy.

London Metropolitan Regatta, Dorney Lake (Irish interest; selected results, winners unless stated)

Saturday

Men

Eight – Championship: 1 Leander 5:49.90, 2 Commercial 5:52.74.

Four – Championship: 3 Commercial 6:12.20. Tier Two: Shandon.

Four, coxed – Tier Three: Tribesmen 6:32.26. Academic, Tier Two: NUIG.

Pair – Tier Two: UCC 7:14.93.

Double Sculls – Championship: 2 UCC (R Byrne, H Sutton) 6:32.50. Tier Two: Castleconnell 6:42.50.

Single Sculls – Championship: 2 UCC (R Byrne) 7:03.99. Tier Two: Univ of Limerick (K Mannix) 7:18.36. Tier Three: St Michael’s (D O’Connor).

Women

Eight – Club, Tier Two: NUIG/Tribesmen 6:50.64. Academic, Tier Two: Trinity 6:57.77.

Four – Academic, Tier Two: Trinity 7:08.62.

Four, coxed – Championship: NUIG/Tribesmen 7:20.88. Tier Four: Univ of Limerick.

Pair – Championship: 2 Commercial (H O’Neill, R Morris) 7:46.57. Tier Two: NUIG 7:39.84.

Double Sculls – Championship: 3 London/Skibbereen (M Jackson, N Long) 7:28.48.

Sunday

Men

Four – Tier Four: UCC 6:47.80. Four, coxed – Tier Two: UCC 6:55.08.

Double – Championship: UCC/Queen’s (R Byrne, P Doyle) 6:28.43. Tier Two: UCC/Queen’s (Byrne, Doyle) 6:37.50.

Single – Championship: Queen’s (S McKeown) 7:11.67. Tier Three: Castleconnell (S Haugh) 7:29.95. Jun 18: Neptune (T Orlic) 7:53.76.

Women

Four, coxed – Tier Two: NUIG/Tribesmen 7:45.07. Tier Three: Univ of Limerick 7:49.44.

Pair – Tier Two: Cork 7:22.18.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Queen’s University won the Championships Quadruple at the BUCS Regatta in Nottingham today. The crew of Nathan Hull, Sam McKeown, Philip Doyle and Tiernan Oliver beat Reading into second and Oxford Brookes into third. The Queen’s women’s Beginners’ eight took silver in their race.

BUCS Regatta, Nottingham (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Sculling, Quadruple – Championship: 1 Queen’s (N Hull, S McKeown, P Doyle, T Oliver) 6:05.57, 2 Reading 6:08.22, 3 Oxford Brookes 6:10.22.

Women

Eight – Beginners’: 1 Edinburgh 7:15.28, 2 Queen’s 7:24.25.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCD’s Eimear Lambe and Aileen Crowley had an impressive win in the women’s senior pair in the deferred finals at the start of the third day of the Irish Championships at the National Rowing Centre. Skibbereen and Cork were in the touch with the UCD women until 1500 metres, but Lambe and Crowley left the rest behind from there and won by 10 seconds from Skibbereen.

Queen’s were also impressive in their win in the men’s novice eight, and Sanita Puspure won the senior single sculls with plenty to spare.

The junior 16 men’s eight went to Enniskillen, who thus completed the set of wins: the junior 18 and 16 eights for men and women.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Day Three (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Novice: Queen’s 6:21.56.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Three Castles 6:21.53, 2 Shandon 6:22.75, 3 Clonmel 6:23.05.

Women

Pair – Senior: UCD (A Crowley, E Lambe) 7:37.41.

Sculling, Single – Senior: Old Collegians (S Pupsure) 8:02.64.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Queen’s University, Belfast, had some excellent results at the British University (BUCS) Regatta at Nottingham. Their men’s crews won 11 medals including three golds. The Beginners’ eight and coxed four won, as did Miles Taylor in the men’s intermediate lightweight single sculls. Philip Doyle took silver in the men’s Championship single sculls and Sam McKeown matched this in the men’s intermediate single sculls. Taylor and Chris Beck teamed up to take silver in the Championship lightweight double, and the Championship and Beginners’ quadruples also took silver.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Lee’s junior women won the Division One double sculls at the Skibbereen Regatta at the National Rowing Centre. Margaret Cremen and Claire Synott had already taken the Division One quadruple, in combination with Eimear Cummins and Maedbh Heaney. Queen’s won the men’s double and the men’s four, where they were involved in a two-boat race with UCC. The women’s four gave UCD the opportunity for an emphatic victory.

Skibbereen Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Saturday (selected results)

 Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 Trinity A (novice) 6:18.4; 2 UCC (club two) 6:22.0; 4 Cork (jun 18B) 6:30.7. B Final: Shandon (jun 16) 6:33.9.

Four – Division One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (sen) 6:37.6, 2 UCC (sen) 6:44.1. Division One (coxed) – A Final: 1 NUIG (sen) 6:52.4, 2 Queen’s (club one) 6:56.1, 3 Trinity (club one) 6:56.9; 5 St Joseph’s A (jun 18A) 7:02.2. B Final: 1 UCC (inter) 6:58.4. Div Two (coxed) – A Final: 1 Cork BC (jun 18B) 7:12.8; 2 Commercial B (club two) 7:14.1. B Final: Presentation, Cork (jun 16) 7:37.1.

 Pair – Division One – A Final: 1 Trinity (sen) 6:56.8, 2 Commercial A (sen) 7:00.0, 3 Commercial C (sen) 7:01.2; 5 UCC (inter) 7:11.3. B Final: 1 Trinity A (sen) 7:12.4; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:27.1.

Sculling, Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Shandon/Athlone (sen) 6:15.0, 2 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:16.1, 3 Commercial (jun 18A) 6:22.7. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (inter) 6:39.5; 2 Queen’s (club one) 6:46.1.

 Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (sen) 6:44.1, 2 Shandon/Clonmel (sen) 6:50.3, 3 Castleconnell (inter) 6:53.4. B Final: 1 Belfast BC (inter) 7:05.7. Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:04.6; 2 Skibbereen (club two) 7:11.9. B Final: 2 Waterford (jun 16) 7:26.1.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle, sen) 7:18.2, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch; jun 18A) 7:18.5, 3 Queen’s (C Beck; lwt) 7:24.3; 4 Skibbereen (F McCarthy; inter) 7:26.4. B Final: 1 Garda (D Kelly; sen) 7:32.8; 5 UCC (D Synott; club one) 7:46.2. Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (O’Brien; club two) 7:41.8; 2 Lee Valley (C Cummins; jun 18B) 7:43.8; 5 Carlow (J Keating; jun 16) 7:58.0.

 Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 UCD (club two) 7:02.8; 3 Shandon (jun 18B); 5 Col Iognaid (jun 16). B Final: 4 Trinity A (nov) 7:44.2. Four – Division One – A Final: 1 UCD (sen) 7:20.9, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:34.9, 3 Trinity B (sen) 7:35.3.

Division One (coxed) – A Final: Commercial (inter) 7:36.9, 2 UCD (sen) 7:37.5, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:46.8; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:55.8. B Final: 1 NUIG (club one) 7:44.3.

Pair – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (jun 18A) 7:55.47, 2 UCC (inter) 8:08.1, 3 Queen’s (inter) 8:14.8; 4 Trinity (club one) 8:21.6.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Lee (jun 18A) 7:20.4, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:25.1, 3 Fermoy (club one) 7:27.3; 4 UCC (inter) 7:30.2, 5 Belfast BC, Queen’s, Fermoy (sen) 7:30.9. B Final: Commercial (jun 18A) 7:47.6. Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork A (jun 18B) 7:46.4; 2 Workman’s (jun 16) 7:49.0; 6 St Michael’s (club two) 8:15.6. C Final: 5 Univ of Limerick (nov) 8:56.2.

Double – Division One – A Final: 1 Lee (jun 18A): 7:42.4, 2 Neptune (jun1 18A) 7:50.3, 3 Trinity (inter) 7:54.4; 4 Skibbereen (sen) 8:10.5. B Final: 1 NUIG A (club one) 8:11.5.

 Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (club two) 8:02.4; 2 Carlow (jun 18B) 8:08.6; 3 Workman’s (jun 16) 8:11.0.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 7:55.4, 2 Skibbereen (D Walsh; sen) 7:58.9, 3 Skibbereen (S Dolan; sen) 8:05.8; 4 Skibbereen (E Hegarty; jun 18A) 8:12.6, 5 UCD (A Crowley; inter) 8:20.4. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes; lightweight) 8:27.7; 4 Belfast BC (O Blundell; club one) 8:32.8. C Final: 1 Garda (B Larsen; inter) 8:36.81. 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Philip Doyle of Queen’s University beat Daire Lynch of Clonmel by three tenths of a second in the Division One A Final of the men’s single sculls at Skibbereen Regatta today. Monika Dukarska won the women’s equivalent, with lightweight oarswoman Denise Walsh second. Trinity took the men’s senior pair through Patrick Moreau and Michael Corcoran and their men’s novice eight won the Division Two A Final. Cork Boat Club won the women’s Division One pair with their junior crew.  

Skibbereen Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Saturday (selected results)

 Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 Trinity A (novice) 6:18.4; 2 UCC (club two) 6:22.0; 4 Cork (jun 18B) 6:30.7. B Final: Shandon (jun 16) 6:33.9.

 Pair – Division One – A Final: 1 Trinity (sen) 6:56.8, 2 Commercial A (sen) 7:00.0, 3 Commercial C (sen) 7:01.2; 5 UCC (inter) 7:11.3. B Final: 1 Trinity A (sen) 7:12.4; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:27.1.

Sculling,

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle, sen) 7:18.2, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch; jun 18A) 7:18.5, 3 Queen’s (C Beck; lwt) 7:24.3; 4 Skibbereen (F McCarthy; inter) 7:26.4. B Final: 1 Garda (D Kelly; sen) 7:32.8; 5 UCC (D Synott; club one) 7:46.2. C Final: Portadown (S McKeown; sen) 7:25.0

 Women

Pair – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (jun 18A) 7:55.47, 2 UCC (inter) 8:08.1, 3 Queen’s (inter) 8:14.8; 4 Trinity (club one) 8:21.6.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork A (jun 18B) 7:46.4; 2 Workman’s (jun 16) 7:49.0; 6 St Michael’s (club two) 8:15.6. C Final: 5 Univ of Limerick (nov) 8:56.2.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 7:55.4, 2 Skibbereen (D Walsh; sen) 7:58.9, 3 Skibbereen (S Dolan; sen) 8:05.8; 4 Skibbereen (E Hegarty; jun 18A) 8:12.6, 5 UCD (A Crowley; inter) 8:20.4. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes; lightweight) 8:27.7; 4 Belfast BC (O Blundell; club one) 8:32.8. C Final: 1 Garda (B Larsen; inter) 8:36.81. 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Trinity emerged as the top college at the University Championships of Ireland at the National Rowing Centre today. The combined points total of women’s and men’s crews was 66, ten more than Queen’s University and 14 ahead of UCD. The Wylie Cup was won by NUIG by virtue of their wins in the men’s intermediate and club eights, while Trinity won the Bank of Ireland Cup for women. The men’s senior eights final again saw Trinity beaten by UCD, by half a length. The verdict in the women’s senior eight was the same – but the result was reversed.

University Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Friday (Selected Results)

 Overall: 1 Trinity (DUBC and DULBC combined) 66 points, 2 Queen’s University 56pts, 3 UCD 52pts. Wylie Cup (men): NUIG. Bank of Ireland Cup (women): Trinity.  

Men

Eight – Senior: 1 UCD, 2 Trinity, 3 NUIG; ½ l, 3l. Inter: NUIG. Club: NUIG. Novice: Trinity A 2½ l.

Four, Sen: 1 UCC, 2 Trinity; canvas. Inter: NUIG. Club, coxed: UCC.

Pair – Sen: 1 UCD, 2 NUIG, 3 Trinity A; 6l, 6l.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Queen’s. Double – Inter: Queen’s. Single – Senior: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle), 2 Belfast Met (S McKeown), 3 Queen’s (C Beck); 2 ½ l, ½ l. Inter: Cork IT (Hennessy).

Women

Eight –Senior: 1 Trinity A, 2 UCD, 3 Trinity B; ½ l, dist.  Inter: Trinity. Club: Queen’s. Novice: UCD.

Four – Sen: 1 Trinity A, 2 UCD, 3 Trinity; ¾ l, dist. Inter, coxed: Queen’s. Club, coxed: Trinity A.

Pair – Sen: Trinity.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Dublin IT A.

Double – Inter: Trinity A.

Single – Senior: IT Tralee (M Dukarska).  Inter: UCC (Bouanane).

Published in Rowing

#Rower of the Month: Philip Doyle of Queen’s University is the Afloat Rower of the Month for February. The big medical student was the fastest single sculler at the Lagan Scullers’ Head of the River. He covered the course in under 12 minutes and had just over 17 seconds to spare over Portadown’s Sam McKeown.

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 2016. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2016 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month
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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