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Displaying items by tag: O'Donovan

#ROWING: The Ireland lightweight women’s double scull finished fourth at the World University Games in Gravelines in France today. Poland and Britain comfortably took the gold and silver medals, while Ruth Morris and Orla Hayes pressurised Mexico, who held third. However, the Mexicans held on to take bronze.

The men’s lightweight double of Shane O’Driscoll and Gary O’Donovan took sixth in their A Final.

World University Championships, Gravelines, France (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Britain 6:49.95, 2 Hungary 6:51.19, 3 France 6:54.01; 6 Ireland 7:06.62.

Single Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 3 Ireland (Hughes) 7:19.25.

Lightweight Single Sculls - B Final (Places 7 to 12): 3 Ireland (Beck) 7:29.08.

Women

Four – B Final (Places 7 to 10): 3 Ireland 7:27.46.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Poland 7:43.43, 2 Britain 7:44.49, 3 Mexico 7:52.01; 4 Ireland 7:55.00.

Lightweight Single Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 10): 4 Ireland (Dolan) 8:26.36.  

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Two Ireland crews will compete in A Finals at the World University Rowing Championships in Gravelines in France. Ireland’s lightweight double scull of Gary O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished third in their semi-final today out of an unfavourable lane two in difficult conditions. The women’s lightweight double of Ruth Morris and Orla Hayes also qualified for the A Final, winning their repechage. The three other Ireland crews will compete in B Finals tomorrow.

World University Championships, Gravelines, France. Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Final Two (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain 7:11.03, 2 Germany 7:13.41, 3 Ireland (G O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 7:24.64.

Single Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 4 (T Hughes) 7:57.06.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C Final): 3 Ireland (C Beck) 8:15.18. Semi-Final One (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 5 Beck 8:18.31.

Women

Four – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 6 Ireland (N Long, O Finnegan, G Collins, S Dineen) 7:51.42.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (R Morris, O Hayes) 7:45.17, 2 Canada 7:46.81.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final); 6 Ireland (Sinéad Dolan) 8:37.95.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s men’s lightweight pair finished fourth in their B Final, 10th overall, at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. China won in a fast time in tailwind conditions, with Bulgaria and the Netherlands battling each other and finishing second and third. Ireland’s Niall Kenny and Mark O’Donovan were fifth through the middle stages but won their own battle with Austria to take a clear fourth.

The women’s four of Marie O'Neill, Emily Tormey, Aifric Keogh and Barbara O'Brien were fourth in their B Final, behind the Netherlands, who won impressively from Italy, with Germany third.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Six (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 China (Zhenwei Hou, Fangbing Zhang) 6:28.29, 2 Bulgaria 6:30.40, 3 Netherlands 6:31.01, 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:34.06, 5 Austria 6:37.65, 6 Chile 6:43.01.

Women

Four – B Final (Places 7 to 10): 1 Netherlands 6:28.95, 2 Italy 6:35.51, 3 Germany 6:37.90, 4 Ireland (M O’Neill, E Tormey, A Keogh, B O’Brien) 6:43.62.

Lightweight Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Russia (D Stepochkina, O Arkadova) 6:58.21, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:00.11, 3 Denmark 7:03.49, 4 Switzerland 7:03.51, 5 Belarus 7:09.08, 6 Greece 7:14.20.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan gave Ireland its first A Final place at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today with a stirring performance which yielded second place in the lightweight single sculls semi-final. The UCD man lagged the field in the early stages; he was sixth at 500 metres as Zhao Jingbin of China and Marcello Miani of Italy commanded the race. By halfway O’Donovan was marginally in third place, but still over three seconds behind the leaders. As Miani moved clear in the final 1,000 metres, O’Donovan chased down and passed the Chinese. In a close finish, O’Donovan and Perry Ward of Australia took second and third, with Zhao Jingbin pushed into fourth and the B Final.

The Ireland lightweight men’s pair of Mark O’Donovan and Niall Kenny finished sixth in their semi-final and must settle for a B Final place. This was an exciting and fast race where all the boats were in with a chance of qualification until the very final stages, Switzerland, France and Australia took the A Final spots.

World Rowing Championships, Day Five (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Switzerland (S Niepmann, L Tramer) 6:38.67, 2 France (A Mouterde, T Baroukh) 6:41.22, 3 Australia (A Foot, D Purcell) 6:42.39; 4 Bulgaria 6:44.00, 5 Netherlands 6:45.00, 6 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:46.60.

Lightweight Single Scull – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Italy (M Miani) 7:02.00, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:03.59, 3 Australia (P Ward) 7:04.10; 4 China 7:04.99, 5 Denmark 7:08.21, 6 Hungary 7:15.08.

Women

Pair – A/B Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States (M Kalmoe, K Simmonds) 7:16.35, 2 New Zealand (L Trappitt, R Scown) 7:22.12, 3 Australia (C Sutherland, L Stephan) 7:30.02; 4 Serbia 7:34.92, 5 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:35.18, 6 Czech Republic 7:45.68.

Lightweight Double Sculls - C/D Semi-Final (First Three to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 Denmark 7:25.98, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:26.35, 3 Russia 7:26.65; 4 Argentina 7:27.24.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan put in a brilliant second 1,000 metres to secure a semi-final place in the lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. O’Donovan needed to finish in the top three of the quarter-final to progress, but he was was fifth at half way, over one-and-a-half seconds behind third-placed Steffen Jensen of Denmark, with Russia’s Alexandr Tufanyuk fighting it out with Lars Hartig of Germany at the head of the field. O’Donovan turned it on in the second half. As the Russian faded, the Irishman took over in third behind Hartig and Jensen, and then passed the Dane to take second – just over a second behind Hartig.

 In a major shock, the World Under-23 champion, Andrew Campbell Jr of the United States, made his exit when he fell out of the boat in the immediately preceding heat.

World Rowing Championships, Day Four (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Quarter-Final (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Germany (L Hartig) 7:13.67, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:14.76, 3 Denmark (S Jensen) 7:33.91; 4 Azerbaijan 7:25.84, 5 Russia 7:33.91, 6 Algeria 7:43.76.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The Ireland lightweight pair of Niall Kenny and Mark O’Donovan caused a major upset on the second day of the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. The new crew at international level won their heat, beating World and European champions Switzerland. The Swiss set a blistering early pace and drew well clear, but the Irish had by far the better second 1,000 metres. They caught and passed the Swiss, who could not meet the challenge and actually stopped before getting going again, allowing China to take the second qualification spot.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Two (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Heat Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:53.54, 2 China (Zhenwei Hou, Fanbing Zhang) 6:54.57; 3 Switzerland 7:03.74, 4 Australia 7:10.31, 5 Bulgaria 7:13.05, 6 Austria 7:19.39.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan gave Ireland a good start to the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. The UCD lightweight single sculler qualified directly for the quarter-finals by finishing third in a heat, with four going through. China’s Zhao Jingbin set the early pace and O’Donovan was in fifth to halfway. But the Chinese faded while O’Donovan grew stronger: the Irishman passed him and Lukas Babac of Slovakia in the second half of the race. Pedro Fraga of Portugal won, with Perry Ward of Australia second.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Four Directly to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Portugal (P Fraga) 6:53.62, Australia (P Ward) 6:54.96, 3 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 6:57.65,4 China (Jingbin Zhao) 7:03.13; 5 Slovakia 7:04.81, 6 Quatar 9:52.93.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan finished fourth in the A Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships this morning at Varese in Italy. The winner was never in doubt from early on as Andrew Campbell of the United States made his exit from this grade by disappearing from the field and taking his second successive gold medal. Behind him Enes Kusku of Turkey continued his good form in the Championships by taking silver. The surprise came from Francesco Pegoraro of Italy, who took over in third in the third quarter. O’Donovan challenged but could not pass him.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships – Finals (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Ukraine 6:30.20, 2 Greece 6:33.06, 3 New Zealand 6:34.23, 4 Ireland (G O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:34.72, 5 United States 6:37.39, 6 Serbia 6:42.16.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 United States (A Campbell Jr) 6:54.49, 2 Turkey (E Kusku) 7:00.14, 3 Italy (F Pegoraro) 7:00.58; 4 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:02.32, 5 Hungary 7:02.68, 6 Belgium 7:09.71

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan produced an excellent finish to take second in his semi-final of the lightweight single scculls at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Varese in Italy today. Enes Kusku of Turkey set a hot pace and won, while behind him O’Donovan had to see off a number of challengers to secure the top-three spot. He was  third at 1500 metres, but passed Francesco Genoraro of Italy coming up to the line and almost caught Kusku.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Varese, Italy (Selected results; Irish interest)

Men

Four – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Croatia 6:09.17, 2 Belarus 6:10.60

3 China 6:11.76, 4 Serbia 6:14.24, 5 France 6:15.88, 6 Ireland (R Bennett, K Neville, F McQuillan-Tolan, R O’Callaghan) 6:20.33.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Turkey (E Kusku) 7:11.73, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:11.91, 3 Italy (F Pegoraro) 7:12.30; 4 Netherlands 7:15.25, 5 Germany 7:17.22, 6 Greece 7:29.74.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan moved into the semi-finals of the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Varese in Italy by taking third place in his quarter-final this morning. Enes Kusku of Turkey and Daniel Matyasovszki of Hungary took off at pace early on and annexed first and second, while the UCD lightweight single sculler took it easier and held on to the last qualification place despite a late challenge from Grigor Manchev of Bulgaria.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Varese, Italy (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Quarter-Final One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; Rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Turkey (E Kusku) 7:10.73, 2 Hungary (D Matyasovszki) 7:12.03, Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:22.19; 4 Bulgaria 7:27.25, 5 Slovakia 7:35.37, 6 Slovenia 8:03.76.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; Rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 New Zealand 8:00.05, 2 Germany 8:04,34; Ireland (D Walsh) Did Not Finish

Published in Rowing
Page 7 of 10

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