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# CANOEING: Two K2 boats with a very marked combination of experience and youth led the way home at the Liffey Descent today. Deaglan O Drisceoil (47) and Tom Brennan (20) won in a fine time of one hour 47 minutes and 54 seconds, while the father-and-son combination of Malcolm Banks (50) and Liam Banks (20) followed them in. The K2 of Peter Egan and British international paddler Jon Simmons were third, although they suffered a capsize at Straffan weir, where there were a series of chaotic collisions.

Mickie Brennan of Thomastown Paddlers was an impressive winner in the K1 class, taking this title for the first time. Kevin Pierce of Wildwater Kayak Club was second, with Brennan’s clubmate Anthony Forristal third.

The good conditions made for a satisfactory day out at the new venue of Garda Boat Club. The prizes were presented by Kieran Mulvey and John Treacy of the Irish Sports Council.

Liffey Descent, Straffan to Islandbridge, Saturday (Selected Results)

K1 – Senior Men: 1 M Brennan (Thomastown Paddlers) 1:54.33, 2 K Pierce (Wildwater KC) 1:55.10, 3 A Forristal (Thomastown Paddlers) 1:59.11. Senior Women: A Smith (Wildwater KC) 2:18.35. Masters: 1 G Mawer (Salmon Leap) 1:55.09

K2 – Senior: 1 D O Drisceoil, T Brennan (Salmon Leap) 1:47.54, 2 M Banks, L Banks 1:48.10, 3 P Egan, J Simmons 1:48.49. Mixed: 1 J Egan, B Farrell (Salmon Leap) 1:56.07. Junior: 1 B O Casaide, R Brady (Salmon Leap) 2:11.40. Masters: A Seaford, J Treadgoud (Reading) 2:06.34. Veteran: 1 T Dillon, P Moroney (Wildwater KC) 2:04.04.

Touring Kayak Double: 1 P Scott, M Cooper 2:06.17, 2 S Martin, A Martin (Richmond) 2:06.49, 3 G Collins, B Gallagher (Salmon Leap) 2:12.07.

Wildwater – Senior Men: 1 A Hamel 2:04.16, 2 I Mac Giolla (Salmon Leap) 2:05.07, 3 J Gallagher (Galway KC) 2:13.57.

Canadian Triple: 1 S Doyle, M McGrath, D Doyle (Tullow) 2:53.31, 2 D Carroll, L Griffin, C Cullen 3:01.47, 3 C Slevin, N Slevin, M Slevin (32nd Limerick Scouts) 3:03.52.

Canadian Double: 1 B McNulty, D Bradburn (Chester) 2:39.36, 2 A Magrath, P Tennant (Paddleplus) 2:35.10, 3 N Canavan, T Marron (Mid Antrim) 2:38.47.

Canadian Single (ICF): 1 A Hales (Czech Canoe Team) 2:04.33, 2 D Jirka (Czech) 2:05.01, 3 M Novak (Czech) 2:05.40. Canadian Single: 1 C Smith 2:54.08, 2 K McCabe (Lisburn City) 3:16.47, 3 A Redmond 3:24.20.

General Purpose – Senior Men: 1 S Hendrick (Ribbontail Paddlers) 2:21.33, 2 D Horkan (Moy) 2:21.48, 3 M Redmond (Wildwater KC) 2:26.28. Senior Women: 1 H Clarke 2:32.56, 2 J Kilbride 2:39.39, 3 E Kelly (Castleknock College) 2:40.19. Junior: R Mac Ghiolla Rua (Celbridge) 2:28.59, 2 P Deering (ICU) 2:29.47, 3 G Doolan (Celbridge Paddlers) 2:36.41. Junior Women: C Nic Ghiolla Rua (Celbridge) 2:56.26. Masters: R Vincent (Saor Valley) 2:17.05, 2 J Keegan 2:23.33, 3 N Butler (DBSC) 2:25.30.

Published in Liffey Descent

# CANOEING: Ireland took a creditable ninth place at the Olympic Games today when Andrzej Jezierski dominated the B Final of the C1 200 metres in the Canoe Sprint competition at Eton Dorney.

Jezierski, who had a poor start in his semi-final and missed out a place in the A Final, nailed it this time and led as he came into the closing stages. Vadim Menkov of Uzbekhistan came closest to catching the Cork-based competitor, but Jezierski won by .127 of a second.

Olympic Games – Canoe Sprint, Eton Dorney – C1 200m, B Final (places 9 to 16): 1 Ireland (A Jezierski) 44.041 seconds, 2 Uzbekhistan 44.168, 3 Hungary 44.466.  

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: A poor start cost Andrzej Jezierski dearly it the Olympic Canoe Sprint semi-finals this morning. A very tough draw in the C1 200 metres saw the Ireland competitor needing to finish in the first two of a top-class field to be sure of a final place, though the two fastest third-place losers of the three semis would also qualify. However, Jezierski struggled from the start and even his customary better second half could only secure fourth. It was the fastest of the three semi-finals. Jezierski  is now set for the B Final.

The top two places in the semi-final were taken by Ivan Shtyl of Russia and Alfonso Benavidez Lopes de Ayala of Spain.

Olympic Games

Canoe Sprint – Eton Dorney – C1 200m – Semi-Final (First Two to Semi-Finals): 1 Russia (I Shtyl) 40.346, 2 Spain (A Benavidez Lopes de Ayala) 40.619; 4 Ireland (A Jezierski) 42.012.

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: Ireland had a terrific start in the Olympic Canoe Sprint events at Eton Dorney this morning. Andrzej Jezierski was not happy with his start in the C1 200 metres but covered the second 100 metres very well to to finish second and qualify comfortably for the semi-finals.

Mathieu Goubel of France won the heat, but the big surprise was that Valentin Demyanenko, the reigning world champion, did not qualify. The man who represents Azerbaijan finished seventh and last.

Olympic Games

Canoe Sprint – Eton Dorney – C1 200m – Heat One (Six to Semi-Finals): 1 France (M Goubel) 41.248, 2 Ireland (A Jezierski) +0.156, 3 Japan (N Sakamoto) +0.280, 4 Canada (J McCoombs) 0.494, 5 Brazil (R Oliveira) +0.968, 6 Australia (S Marczak) +1.597; 7 Azerbaijan (V Demyanenko) +2.946.

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: A very good second run in the heats, when she was under real pressure to perform, gave Ireland’s Hannah Craig a place in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games today. Eoin Rheinisch had qualified in the canoe slalom in the men's K1 on Sunday.

The course at Lee Valley proved extremely testing for the competitors in the women’s K1 canoe slalom. The top 15 of 21 qualified, and Craig clocked 117.07 seconds for her first run, which placed her 14th for the first run. This included eight seconds in penalties. The time put her into second place at this stage behind Luuka Jones of New Zealand who clocked 109.23. However, the top competitors then pushed through, with Maialen Chorraut of Spain setting an outstanding time of 98.75 seconds. But some of the top canoeists in the world, including Jessica Fox of Australia and Corinna Kuhnle of Austria did poorly on the first run and lay behind Craig, with every chance they would push Craig out with their second runs: the Irishwoman knew she had to improve to be sure of making that top 15.

Her second run looked better from the start. She moved sweetly all the way to the really difficult gate 12, on which she lost some time, but she found her way again and only a clip on gate 19, bringing her a two-second penalty, tainted a fine round of 108.99 seconds.

Fox and Kuhnle did indeed set excellent times in their second runs, ensuring that even the better second run only secured 14th place for Craig. Jones took the 15th spot.

Olympic Games – Canoe Slalom – Women’s K1 Heats (First 15 qualify for semi-final): 1 Spain (M Chorraut) 98.75 (1st run); 14 H Craig 108.99 (2nd run).

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING; Eoin Rheinisch qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympic Games with a fine first run in the K1 canoe slalom heats. Fifteen off the 22 competitors went through, and Rheinisch will go off 12th on Wednesday.

His first run of 89.97 placed him sixth – though team manager Karl Dunne had to launch an immediate objection to remove a penalty of two seconds given wrongly for a supposed touch on gate 19. Rheinisch could not improve on that in the second run – he had another penalty-free paddle, but clocked 90.72 seconds. His first run was enough to see him through in heats won by Hannes Aigner of Germany, who clocked a superb 83.49 seconds in his second run on a technically difficult course.

Benjamin Boukpeti, the man who went off last in the Olympics in Beijing and pushed Rheinisch out of bronze medal position, qualified in 14th, and Richard Hounslow of Britain had to produce a good run under pressure to qualify in 11th. Among those eliminated were Scott Parsons of the United States and Warwick Draper of Australia.

Olympic Games – Canoe Slalom: Men’s K1 Heats (Irish interest): 1 Germany (H Aigner; 2nd run) 83.49; 12 Ireland (E Rheinisch) 89.97.

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: Andrzej Jezierski finished fifth in the A Final of the C1 200 class at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Zagreb in Croatia today. The Poznan native, who lives in Co Cork, has reportedly been suffering from a shoulder niggle, but this placing continues an improving run since he qualified for London 2012 in May. He finished 14th in the World Cup in Poznan and seventh in the World Cup in Duisburg. “We are very pleased with today’s result,” said Karl Dunne of the Irish Canoe Union. “It’s good progress.”

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: Ireland’s hopes in Canoe Sprint at the Olympic Games received a boost today when Andrzej Jezierski qualified for the A Final at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Zagreb. The Cork-based athlete, who will represent Ireland in the C1 200 class in London 2012, finished second in his semi-final today in that class, having placed third in his heat.

Canoe Sprint European Championships, Zagreb – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

C1 200

Heat One (First to final; 2-7 to Semi-Final): 3 A Jezierski 40.571. Semi-Final (First Three to A Final): 1 Belarus (D Harazha) 39.770, 2 Jezierski 40.198, 3 Slovakia (L Hagara) 40.514.

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: Ireland had a fifth and a seventh place in A Finals at the Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg this morning. Newly-qualified Olympian Andrzej Jezierski did not have a great start in the C1 200 metre race won by Spain’s Alfonso Benavides of Spain. Jezierski finished seventh. Barry Watkins battled well in the K1 500 metres and finished fifth in a race won convincingly by Anders Gustafsson of Sweden.

Canoe Sprint World Cup Two, Duisburg (Irish Interest)

Men

K2 200 – C Final (Places 19-27): 5 V Pierce, S Marchetti 34.156; 6 M Majchrzak, P Egan 34.201

C1 200m – A Final: 1 Spain (A Benavides) 40.685, 2 Germany (S Kiraj) 40.760, 3 Brazil (N Santos) 41.203; 7 Ireland (A Jezierski) 41.558

K1 500m – A Final: 1 Sweden (A Gustafsson) 1:41.063, 2 Germany (T Liebscher) 1:41.431, 3 Tunisia (MA Mrabet) 1:42.413; 4 Canada (B Reardon) 1:42.679, 5 Ireland (B Watkins) 1:43.526.

Published in Canoeing

# CANOEING: Andrzej Jezierski won his semi-final of the C1 200 metres and moved confidently into tomorrow’s A Final at the World Cup in Duisburg in Germany. He finished second in his heat of the men’s C1 200 metres to qualify for the semi-final. Jezierski, who lives in Ballincollig in Cork, earlier this month qualified this boat for the Olympics for Ireland.

Barry Watkins finished third in the B Final of the men’s K1 1,000 metres, 12th overall, while the two men’s K2 200 metres boats both made it through to their semi-finals.

Canoe Sprint World Cup Two, Duisburg (Irish Interest)

Men

C1 200m – Heat Three: 2 A Jezierski 41.091 seconds. Semi-Final One: 1 Jezierski 41.931.

K1 1,000m – B Final: 3 B Watkins 3:35.782

K2 200 – Heat One: 6 S Marchetti, V Pierce 34.179. Heat Four: 7 M Majchrzak, P Egan 34.447.

Published in Canoeing
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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