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Displaying items by tag: UCD

#Rower of the Month: The Afloat Rower of the Month for January 2016 is Paul O’Donovan. The UCD oarsman produced a remarkable time of six minutes 7.5 seconds at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships to smash the Irish record for a lightweight – the time of 6:14.6 set by his brother Gary earlier in the open competition. Paul is 21 and competed in the under-23 section. Sanita Puspure and Claire Lambe were amongst those who set new records at the championships. Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan will compete for Ireland as a lightweight double scull at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro later this year.

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 Rowing

#Rowing: Breanna Larsen of Garda Boat Club set a fine personal best time of seven minutes 7.9 seconds at the Leinster Indoor Rowing competition at Garda Rowing Club on Saturday. Oblivious to the wind and rain outside, the women rowers from Garda, UCD and Trinity competed and set some good times. Trinity won the award for best female club, but Aileen Crowley of UCD took the under-23 title, clocking an impressive 7:13.30.  

Leinster Indoor Competition, Garda Boat Club, Saturday (Selected Results, 2,000m unless stated) Full Results Attached

Men

Open: 1 D Kelly 6:17.8, 2 C McShane 6:54.8, 3 P Murphy 7:12.4. Novice (1,000): C Harrington 3:11.7. Jun 18: 1 N Beggan 6:51.8, 2 J Phelan 6:53.3, 3 A Lennon 6:56.0. Jun 16: R Quinn 6:54.9. 

Masters 30+: D Quinn 6:31.40. Non-Rower (1,000m); 2:59.8.

Women

Open: 1 B Larsen 7:07.90 (PB), M Moore 7:20.10, 3 S O’Brien 7:23.6. Under-23:  A Crowley 7:13.30. Junior 18: E Lambe 7:18.90, 2 C Feerick 7:29.6, 3 J Coleman 7:48.7. Jun 16: S Maxwell 7:49.6. Lightweight: G Crowe 7:33.90.

Novice (1,000m): B O’Brien 3:29.8. 

Published in Rowing

The 24 teams from UCD, DCU, DIT, CIT, UCC, NUIG, Queens and Trinity were greeted with sunny blue skies as they arrive down to Dingle Sailing Club on Saturday morning the 17th of October to compete in the first day of the 2015 IUSA Easterns. The winds were light in the harbour and struggling to reach five knots. While the boats were being rigged, course being set and committee getting in position the breeze began to rise as if to welcome the sailors to the waters of Dingle.

The races got off to a slow start due to problems arising with the jury boats in the flooding tide, making areas of the course to shallow to sail in. Once these problems were remedied the races flew by. Locals and tourists looked on from the grass area as they were treated to watch very close racing. As the sun began to set and the temperatures dropped the committee called racing for the day after 61 tight races. At the end of the day the leaders of the gold, silver and bronze round robins were UCC1, UCD3 and UCD5 respectively.

An earlier first gun saw the teams on the water for 9:30am on Sunday morning and racing got underway immediately. The racing went straight into the quarterfinals with best of 3 matches for the gold and silver fleet and best of one for the bronze fleet. The finals were UCD1 versus CIT1 in the gold fleet, TCD3 versus TCD4 in the silver fleet, and TCD5 versus TCD6 in the bronze fleet with UCD1, TCD3 and TCD5 all coming out victorious.

Published in Team Racing
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#SYWoC - The team from University College Dublin have place third in this year's Student Yachting World Cup.

Ryan Glynn (skipper), Ronan Jones, Colin O’Mahoney, Cliodhna Conolly, Cian Cahill and Emma Reidy beat such noble institutions as Cambridge and Oxford to the bronze position, behind the University of Southampton and SYWoC winners from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, it was UCD's fourth participation in the week-long racing event, where they previously lifted the cup in 2012.

Sailors from Trinity College Dublin – also previous cup winners, in 2006 – were also competing but failed to make the top 10.

Published in Racing

#ROWING: Trinity won the senior eights Championship of Ireland for the first time since 2008 at the National Rowing Centre today. They started well and pushed into a one-length lead at 1,000 metres over UCD/Old Collegians, with NUIG/Grainne Mhaol not far behind. Trinity saw off repeated pushes to win by just under a length from UCD/Old Collegians.

In the women’s senior eights UCD had a similar race pattern, but had a little more to spare over their rivals, UCC/Skibbereen and Trinity.

The men’s intermediate double gave Garda’s Damien Kelly and Ronan Allen a chance to impress. They dominated their race, as did Skibbereen in the women’s junior quadruple sculls – a win which brought Skibbereen up to 150 wins and level with Neptune on the Pots won at the Irish Championships. Fittingly, Aoife and Niamh Casey, daughters of Dominic Casey, were in the winning boat.

Dervla Forde won the women’s intermediate single sculls title – after a fine battle with Sarah Quinn of Belfast Boat Club, while Portora finished off a good Championships for them with wins in the men’s junior pair and women’s club eight.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day Three (Selected results)

Men

Eight – Senior: 1 Trinity (G Mahon, I Hurley, J Magan, M Corcoran, P Moreau, M Kelly, L Hawkes, D Butler; cox: C Flynn) 5 mins 37.45 seconds, 2 UCD/Old Collegians 5:40.41, 3 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol 5:42.05, 4 UCC/Presentation 5:56.76.

Four – Club, coxed: 1 Queen’s 6:28.23, 2 UCD A 6:30.77, 3 NUIG A 6:36.48.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 Commercial A 6:47.94, 2 Skibbereen 6:55.20, 3 Portora 7:00.19. Junior: 1 Portora B 6:56.46, 2 St Joseph’s A 6:58.25, 3 Portora A 7:04.65.

Sculling, Double – Intermediate: 1 Garda 6:49.10, 2 Lee 6:41.24, 3 Waterford 6:42.64. Junior: 1 Shandon 6:40.27, 2 Castleconnell A 6:50.48, 3 Cork BC B 6:55.56.

Lightweight Single: 1 Skibbereen (J Ryan) 7:09.17, 2 Skibbereen (McCarthy) 7:12.63, 3 St Michael’s (D O’Connor) 7:15.40.

Women

Eight – Senior: 1 UCD (D Callanan, R Gilligan, C Harrison, B Larsen, O Finnegan, A Crowley, A O’Riordan, K O’Connor; cox: L Mulvihill) 6:25.85, 2 UCC/Skibbereen 6:30.31, 3 Trinity A 6:31.62. Club: 1 Portora 6:41.27, 2 Commercial A 6:46.19, 3 NUIG 6:47.67.

Four – Intermediate, coxed: 1 NUIG 7:09.66, 2 Commercial 7:18.28, 3 Shannon 7:23.16.

Pair – Junior: 1 Bann 7:42.60, 2 Portora 7:47.30, 3 Lee 7:51.35.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Skibbereen 6:50.32, 2 Bann A 6:57.37, 3 Bann B 6:59.29.

Single – Lightweight: 1 Tribesmen (S McCrohan) 7:46.48, 2 Commercial (Sarah Dolan) 7:50.22, 3 Skibbereen (O Hayes) 8:00.39. Intermediate: 1 Cork (D Forde) 7:50.85, 2 Belfast BC (S Quinn) 7:51.99, 3 Belfast BC (Mulligan) 8:00.32.

 

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Siobhan McCrohan won the won the women’s senior single sculls for Tribesmen and the experienced Old Collegians/UCD crew took the men’s senior quadruple at the Irish Championships this afternoon.

In the junior women’s eight, Portora had to see off a challenge by Bann, while Shandon bested Castleconnell in an exciting race to win the junior men’s quadruple – their third in-a-row.

Queen’s won the men’s novice eight, beating UCD and Trinity, while Margaret Cremin of Lee won the club single sculls and Andrew Goff of Waterford the men’s intermediate single.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Day Two, Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 5:46.51, 2 UCD A 5:49.27, 3 Queen’s 6:08.61. Novice: 1 Queen’s 6:18.97, 2 UCD 6:25.66, 3 Trinity 6:38.63.

Four – Junior, coxed: 1 Portora 6:36.84, 2 St Joseph’s 6:37.0, 3 Athlunkard 6:45.18.

Pair – Senior: 1 UCC 7:03.18, 2 NUIG 7:10.16, 3 Carlow 7:12.51.

Sculling, Quadruple – Senior: 1 Old Collegians/UCD 6:07.97, 2 Commercial 6:14.51. Junior: 1 Shandon 6:16.78, 2 Castleconnell 6:17.49, 3 Cork BC A 6:28.24.

Single – Intermediate: 1 Waterford (A Goff) 7:23.95, 3 Athlone (P Munnelly) 7:34.43. Club: 1 Shandon (C Merz) 7:42.94, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:44.96, 3 Lee (D Larkin) 7:45.94.

Women

Eight – Novice: 1 Commercial 6:59.55, 2 Queen’s 7:13.67, 3 Trinity 7:13.67. Junior: 1 Portora 6:49.43, 2 Bann 6:52.99, 3 Shannon 7:13.95.

Sculling, Double – Intermediate: 1 Skibbereen 7:36.62, 2 St Michael’s 7:45.87, 3 Belfast BC 7:48.80.

Single – Senior: 1 Tribesmen (S McCrohan) 8:06.29, 2 Commercial (Sarah Dolan) 8:12.04, 3 Skibbereen (O Hayes) 8:13.99. Club: 1 Lee (M Cremin) 8:33.88, 2 Garda (J Ryan) 8:46.29, 3 Queen’s (R Brown) 8:51.52. Junior: 1 Cork (D Forde) 8:07.98, 2 Skibbereen (E Hegarty) 8:18.01, 3 Offaly (A Mooney) 8:21.91.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for June are Trinity’s men’s senior eight. The Dublin University Boat Club crew had a convincing win in the Division One final at Cork Regatta, outpacing UCD and NUIG/Gráinne Mhaol. They crew took the Leander trophy, one of the most impressive prizes on offer in Irish sport. Well done to: Gearóid Mahon, Ian Hurley, John Magan, Michael Corcoran, Patrick Moreau, Mark Kelly, Liam Hawkes, David Butler and cox Cian Flynn.

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 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Trinity won the men’s eights impressively at the Cork Regatta at the National Rowing Centre today. The college crew took an early lead and extended it to a length at 500 metres. The chasing UCD and NUIG/Grainne Mhaol crews looked never likely to catch Trinity from that point on. The winning margin was over five seconds, with UCD taking second. NUIG’s intermediate crew won the women’s eights by an even bigger margin of over seven seconds from Skibbereen’s junior 18A eight.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Sunday

Men

Eight – Div One – A Final: 1 Trinity (senior) 5:40.667, 2 UCD (intermediate) 5:45.957, 3 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol 5:46.533; 4 Queen’s (Club One) 5:54.94; 5 St Joseph’s (jun 18A) 6:02.257. B Final: UCD (Club One) 6:01.593. C Final: Trinity (Club One) 6:28.997.

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol (sen) 6:07.807, 2 UCC A 6:10.83, 3 Carlow (sen) 6:15.543. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: Skibbereen (Club Two) 6:43.837. B Final: Trinity (Club Two) 7:04.517; 3 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:06.357.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div Two – A Final: Cork (jun 16) 6:45.45; 6 Lee (Club Two) 7:03.56. B Final: Workmans (jun 16) 6:59.8; 4 Workman’s (jun 18B) 7:06.817. C Final: Carlow (jun 16) 7:05.697.

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (D Neale, S Jacob; sen) 6:29.50, 2 Portadown/Skibbereen (sen) 6:34.43, 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:44.873. B Final: Waterford (inter) 6:46.473. C Final: Lee (inter) 6:48.227; 4 Methody (Club One) 7:10.627.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Belfast BC (A Murray; jun 18B) 7:35.483, 2 Cappoquin (Aherne; club two) 7:5.052; 4 Lee (Jackson, jun 16) 7:49.427. B Final: Clonmel (Dundon; jun 16) 7:49.347. C Final: St Michael’s (O’Byrne; jun 16) 7:48.40.

Women

Eight – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG (inter) 6:43.177, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 6:50.87, Commercial (inter) 6:57.593. Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:08.330, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:12.137, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:27.62. Div Two, coxed – A Final: Queen’s A (Club Two) 7:27.26; 6 St Michael’s (jun 16) 8:32.17.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty; jun 18A) 7:28.957, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:33.43, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:43.430. B Final: Belfast BC A (inter) 7:39.570.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Lee (Cremin; Club Two) 8:16.437; Workman’s (Burns; jun 16) 8:32.55; 6 Shandon (jun 18B) 8:59.37. B Final: Cork (jun 16) 8:52.337. C Final: Lee Valley (jun 16) 8:56.26.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: UCC gave them a good race, but NUIG/Grainne Mhaol moved away in the closing stages to prove themselves the top men’s four at Cork Regatta. The experience of Sean Jacob and Dave Neale also told in the men’s double scull, with the Ireland under-23 double of Sam McKeown and Andrew Griffin had to give way to the Old Collegians men. The women’s four and double went to young Skibbereen crews: Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty, who are both 16, were part of the winning four and then switched into the double and won again.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Sunday

Men

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol (sen) 6:07.807, 2 UCC A 6:10.83, 3 Carlow (sen) 6:15.543. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: Skibbereen (Club Two) 6:43.837. B Final: Trinity (Club Two) 7:04.517; 3 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:06.357.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (D Neale, S Jacob; sen) 6:29.50, 2 Portadown/Skibbereen (sen) 6:34.43, 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:44.873. B Final: Waterford (inter) 6:46.473. C Final: Lee (inter) 6:48.227; 4 Methody (Club One) 7:10.627.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Belfast BC (A Murray; jun 18B) 7:35.483, 2 Cappoquin (Aherne; club two) 7:5.052; 4 Lee (Jackson, jun 16) 7:49.427. B Final: Clonmel (Dundon; jun 16) 7:49.347. C Final: St Michael’s (O’Byrne; jun 16) 7:48.40.

Women

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:08.330, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:12.137, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:27.62.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty; jun 18A) 7:28.957, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:33.43, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:43.430. B Final: Belfast BC A (inter) 7:39.570.

Published in Rowing

# Rowing: The composite quadruple from UCD and Old Collegians were impressive victors at Cork Regatta. Commercial, who beat them at Dublin Metropolitan, were left behind as the crew of Dave Neale, Albert Maher, Sean Jacob and new man Turlough Hughes won well. Skibbereen won the women’s Division One quadruple, while Commercial won the women’s Division Two eights in an exciting race. UCD’s intermediates were the top coxed four – beating Queen’s in a good race.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Saturday

Men

Four, coxed – Div One – A Final: 1 UCD (inter) 6:27.52, 2 Queen’s (inter) 6:28.52, 3 UCD B (inter) 6:29.16; 4 Skibbereen (sen) 6:38.0. B Final: St Michael’s (inter) 6:53.83; 2 St Michael’s (jun 18A) 6:39.19.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians/UCD (sen) 5:58.95, 2 Commercial (sen) 6:06.11, 3 Castleconnell (jun 18A) 6:15.80. B Final: Cork B (jun 18A) 6:24.97.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork C (jun 16) 7:07.81, 2 Lee (jun 16) 7:14.63, 3 Shandon A (club two) 7:20.63; 6 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:27.78. B Final: Waterford A (jun 16) 7:26.43. C Final: Shannon B (jun 18B) 7:22.38.

Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 Commercial (Club Two) 6:47.24, 2 Queen’s (Club Two) 6:51.15, 3 Col Iognaid (Jun 16) 7:06.11.

Four – Div One, coxed – A Final: 1 NUIG (inter) 7:15.85, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:20.47, 3 Commercial (inter) 7:21.80. B Final: Garda (Club One) 7:48.47.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 6:51.67, 2 Lee (Jun 18A) 7:00.6, 3 Galway (jun 18A) 7:27.46.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Workmen’s (jun 16) 7:43.13, 2 Cork (Club Two), Cork (jun 16) 7:48.08, 4 Shandon (jun 18B) 7:48.74. B Final: Lee (jun 18B) 8:05.00. C Final: Workmen’s (jun 18B) 8:41.15.

Published in Rowing
Page 9 of 15

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