Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Tara Hanlon

#Rowing: Ireland's ambitions of booking a slot for a fifth boat at Tokyo 2020 came up short. The Ireland four of Tara Hanlon, Eimear Lambe, Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty had the difficult task of taking a top-two place in their B Final. They found their pace coming up to the line, but Britain, in lane five, and Canada in lane six took the crucial spots, with Ireland finishing fourth behind third-placed China.

The crosswind was a problem during the race and immediately afterwards the authorities redrew the lanes to acknowledge that lanes five and six were favoured.

World Rowing Championshiops, Linz-Ottensheim, Day Seven (Irish interest)

Women

Four - B Final (First Two book Olympic places for boat): 1 Britain 6:55.08, 2 Canada 6:56.99; 3 China 7:02.28, 4 Ireland Ireland (T Hanlon, E Lambe, A Keogh, E Hegarty) 7:02.71.

Pair - B Final (First Five book Olympic places for boat): 1 Romania 7:18.88, 2 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:20.68.

Lightweight Double Sculls - C Final (Places 13 to 18) 1 China 7:00.82; 5 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:10.52.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland women’s four gave a good account of themselves on their first competitive outing together, just missing out on direct qualification from their heat of the World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria.

 Tara Hanlon, Eimear Lambe, Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty came up against Australia, who were dominant, and the United States, who overcame a poor start to take the second available semi-final spot. The Ireland crew pushed them right to line, with just 1.89 seconds between them at the finish.  

World Rowing Championships, Linz, Austria, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat One (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 6 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:50.51.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Three to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (F McCarthy, P O’Donovan) 6:28.02

Women

Four – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 3 Ireland (T Hanlon, E Lambe, A Keogh, E Hegarty) 6:44.72.

Pair – Heat Four (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:13.30

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Four (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:25.62.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland women’s four which took silver at the World Under-23 Championships in Florida are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for July.

 It was a month of outstanding achievements for Ireland rowers. The men’s double of Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne and the lightweight double of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy both took silver medals at the World Cup regatta in Rotterdam – Paul O’Donovan fishing a stroke coach from the water and immediately getting back to racing. Gary O’Donovan took bronze in the lightweight single sculls.

 The Irish Championships was the biggest ever, featuring the emergence of new young crews such as junior single sculls champion Holly Davis, and capped off with wins in the women’s senior eight for NUIG/Castleconnell and the men’s senior eight for UCD. Davis (14) went on to win gold in the junior single sculls the Home International Regatta, and the men’s junior eight, pair and quadruple also won gold.

 Three Irish crews – UCD, Commercial and Skibbereen’s Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Dricoll – reached semi-finals at Henley Royal Regatta.  

 The World Under-23 Championships in Sarasota Bradenton saw the men’s coxed four take seventh, the lightweight women’s double fourth, and the lightweight men’s quadruple take a bronze medal.

 The achievement of the women’s under-23 four of Claire Feerick (Neptune), Eimear Lambe (UCD), Tara Hanlon (UCC) and Emily Hegarty (UCC) was historic. They became the first Ireland women’s crew in a sweep event to take a medal at a World Championships.  

  They are the Afloat Rowers of the Month.

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. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2019 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

#Rowing: Ireland took a silver medal at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships today through the women’s four of Claire Feerick, Eimear Lambe, Tara Hanlon and Emily Hegarty, who swapped into the stroke seat for Lambe.

 Britain and Ireland swept into the lead early and were clear of the rest in the final quarter. Britain found just enough to beat Ireland by 1.46 seconds.

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota Bradenton, Florida (Irish interest)

Women

Four – A Final: 1 Britain 6:34.22, 2 Ireland (C Feerick, E Lambe, T Hanlon, E Hegarty) 6:35.68, 3 United States 6:39.89.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland took third place in a fast heat of the women’s four at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida.

 The winner alone went directly through to the A Final. The United States claimed this spot, with Britain and Ireland closing fast coming to the line. This was much the faster of the two heats.

 The Ireland crew of Claire Feerick, Emily Hegarty, Tara Hanlon and Eimear Lambe would hope to qualify through their repechage on Thursday.

 

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, United States (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat Two (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Australia 6:11.99; 4 Ireland (B O’Rourke, R Corrigan, D Lynch, J Quinlan; cox: E Finnegan) 6:18.79.

Women

Four – Heat One (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechages): 1 United States 6:32.15; 2 Britain 6:32.96, 3 Ireland (C Feerick, E Hegarty, T Hanlon, E Lambe) 6:33.10.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland women’s four are set for a B Final on Sunday after finishing sixth in their semi-final at the World Cup Regatta in Poznan. Australia beat the United States One crew after an exciting contest in this semi-final, with China producing good finish speed to take third – and a place in the A Final – from New Zealand.

Ireland’s crew of Tara Hanlon, Monika Dukarska, Aileen Crowley and Emily Hegarty were fifth at halfway, over a length off the top-four, and finished behind Britain Two, who took fifth.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland – Day Two (Irish interest)

Women

Four – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Australia 6:54.54, 2 United States One 6:55.52, 3 China 6:55.87; 6 Ireland (T Hanlon, M Dukarska, A Crowley, E Hegarty) 7:08.16.

Pair – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 New Zealand 7:32.18, 2 Italy One 7:35.99, 3 China One 7:36.43; 6 Ireland (C Feerick, E Lambe) 7:51.17.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s women’s four joined the women’s pair in the semi-finals of the World Cup regatta in Poland. The top three crews from the fours repechage qualified, but Ireland sat fifth at halfway. Canada moved away and opened a small lead; Ireland sat fourth with 500 metres to go. Croatia, Ireland and Britain Two finished best to take the top three places.  

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland, Day One (Irish interest)

Women

Four

Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Australia 6:32.50, 2 United States Two 6:33.57, 3 Britain 6:35.69; 4 Ireland (T Hanlon, M Dukarska, A Crowley, E Hegarty) 6:38.44. Repechage (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C Final):

1 Croatia 6:47.12, 2 Ireland 6:47.49, 3 Britain Two 6:48.19.

Pair

Heat Two (Winner to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy Two 7:07.10; 2 China Two 7:09.55, 3 Ireland (E Lambe, C Feerick) 7:10.31. Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; next two to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 United States One 7:15.35, 2 Ireland 7:19.33; 3 Canada One 7:26.52.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland women’s four took fourth in their heat, missing out on direct qualification for the semi-final, at the World Cup Regatta in Poland this morning. The crew of Tara Hanlon, Monika Dukarska, Aileen Crowley and Emily Hegarty will compete in a repechage later today.

 Australia and the United States Two fought it out for the win, with Australia taking top spot. Ireland and Britain battled for the third and final qualification spot, which Britain took.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland, Day One (Irish interest)

Women

Four

Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Australia 6:32.50, 2 United States Two 6:33.57, 3 Britain 6:35.69; 4 Ireland (T Hanlon, M Dukarska, A Crowley, E Hegarty) 6:38.44.

Pair

Heat Two (Winner to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy Two 7:07.10; 2 China Two 7:09.55, 3 Ireland (E Lambe, C Feerick) 7:10.31.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished fourth in the semi-final of the men’s pair at the World Cup in Lucerne today. The Skibbereen men missed out on an A Final place, but not by much. Serbia won the race well, and three other boats – Spain, Britain One and Ireland – disputed the next two qualifying spots. They finished in that order, with Ireland just over three seconds behind Britain One.

Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley finished fourth in the semi-final of the women’s double and are also set for a B Final. The pair of Tara Hanlon and Aifric Keogh needed to take a top-two place in their repechage to make the A Final. They took fourth and will compete in the B Final.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Pair – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Serbia 6:33.87, 2 Spain 6:36.65, 3 Britain One 6:38.90; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:42.02.

D Final (Places 19 to 24): 1 Poland 6:40.95; 5 Ireland (P Boomer, A Harrington) 6:53.83.

Single Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Australia 6:58.52, 2 Argentina 6:59.65, 3 Ireland (P Doyle) 7:00.39.

Women

Pair - Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Australia 7:18.62, 2 China One 7:19.86; 4 Ireland (A Keogh, T Hanlon) 7:29.63.

Double – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 New Zealand 6:53.91, 2 Canada 6:57.71, 3 Netherlands 6:58.57; 4 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:06.42.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Three of the four Ireland boats in early action at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne qualified directly from their heats and avoided repechage action.

 Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan took second place in their heat of the men’s pairs and secured a place in the quarter-finals. The world lightweight champions came up against the outstanding Sinkovic brothers from Croatia, who won the race with a sparkling performance. The key battle behind them was not to finish last. Brazil and Australia battled with Ireland, but O’Donovan and O’Driscoll moved away from both, collared second place and held on to it.

 Patrick Boomer and Andy Harrington secured third place in their heat. Their qualification looked in doubt as they battled with Croatia at the back of the field. But the big Ireland crew found speed when they needed it. They produced the fastest final quarter, and left the Croats behind them. China faded badly and took the last place.  

 The women’s double of Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley qualified directly for the A/B Semi-Finals with a solid second place. The United States crew of Megan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek were convincing winners, while Dukarska and Crowley held on to second despite a late charge by China, who pushed Switzerland into the repechage.

 In the women’s pair, the new crew of Aifric Keogh and Tara Hanlon finished sixth in their heat and are set for a repechage.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day One (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Pair – Heat Two (First Four to Quarter-Final; rest to Quarter-Final or E Final): 1 Spain 6:40.29; 3 Ireland Two (P Boomer, P Harrington) 6:45.74

Heat Six (First Three to Quarter-Final; rest to Quarter-Final or E Final): 1 Croatia 6:37.66, 2 Ireland One (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:40.95.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada 7:13.98;  6 Ireland (A Keogh, T Hanlon) 7:32.49.

Double Sculls – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 United States 6:58.58, 2 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:03.05.

Published in Rowing

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