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UCD’s men’s senior eight were by far the fastest crew at the Neptune Head of the River at Blessington, with 25 seconds to spare over their nearest rivals in the eight, University of Limerick. The UCD women’s eight also topped the rankings, while Cork Boat Club’s Dan Murphy, an intermediate, was the fastest single sculler. The weather held fair for the event. 

Neptune Head of the River, Blessington, Saturday (two time trials)

Overall: 1 UCD senior eight 11 minutes 37 seconds (Head One), 2 University of Limerick sen eight (hd 1) 12:02, 3 Neptune intermediate eight  (hd 2) 12:27, 4 UCD senior four (hd 2) 12:30, 5 UCD intermediate eight (hd 1) 12:41, 6 UCD inter eight (hd 2) 12:44.

Men

Eight – Senior: 1 UCD (head one) (G Murphy, T Hughes, S O’Neill, R Murray, C Pierce, S Jacob, G Duane, P Grogan; cox: J Lynch) 11:37, 2 University of Limerick (hd 1) 12:02, 3 University of Limerick (hd 2) 13:10.

Intermediate: 1 Neptune (hd 2) 12:27, 2 UCD B (hd 1) 12:41, 3 UCD (hd 2) 12:44. Junior 16: 1 Commercial (Keenan, hd 1) 14:07, 2 Carlow (Whelan, hd 1) 14:09, 3 Carlow (Williamson, hd 2) 14:14. Novice: 1 Trinity (hd 2) 12:50, 2 Graiguenamanagh (hd 1) 14:24, 3 Neptune (hd 2) 15:35. Junior 18: 1 Carlow (Chubb, hd 1) 13:36, 2 Carlow (Domaracki, hd 2) 14:42, 3 Castleconnell (Corbett, hd 1) 15:39.

Four – Senior: 1 UCD (hd 2) 12:30, 2 Commercial (hd 2) 12:54, 3 Commercial (hd 1) 13:06.

Intermediate: Neptune (hd 1) 14:05. Novice: Commercial (hd 1) 14:49.

Masters: City of Derry (hd 1) 14:29.

Sculling, Double – Senior: 1 Garda (hd 1) 14:10, 2 Lady Elizabeth (hd 1) 14:41, 3 Lady Elizabeth (hd 2) 15:10.

Intermediate: 1 Trinity (Dunphy, hd 2) 14:08, 2 Neptune (hd 1) 14:53, 3 Trinity (Ryan, hd 2) 15:10. Junior 18: 1 Commercial (hd 1) 14:35, 2 Commercial (hd 2) 14:41, 3 Neptune (Noone) 15:09.

Single – Senior: 1 Lady Elizabeth (C Lewis, hd 1) 15:13, 2 Lewis (hd 2) 15:29, 3 Castleconnell (Pidgeon, hd 2) 15:30. Intermediate: 1 Cork (D Murphy, hd 1) 14:59, 2 Three Castles (Folan, hd 1) 15:01, 3 Cork (D Murphy, hd 2) 15:13. Junior 18: 1 Castleconnell (Sheehan, hd 2) 15:07, 2 Castleconnell (Quigley, hd 2) 15:24, 3 Castleconnell (O’Connor, hd 2) 15:44.

Women

Eight – Senior: 1 UCD (hd 1) 13:41, 2 Trinity (hd 1) 13:44, 3 Trinity (hd 2) 14:08. Intermediate: UCD (hd 2) 14:26. Junior 16: 1 Neptune (hd 2) 15:56, 2 Commercial (hd 1) 16:06, 3 Graiguenamanagh (hd 1) 17:01. Novice: 1 Trinity (hd 1) 14:58, 2 Trinity (hd 2) 15:23, 3 Garda (hd 2) 15:55.

Four – Senior: UCD (hd 2) 15:40. Intermediate: UCD (hd 1) 16:04. Novice: Garda (hd 1) 17:26.

Sculling

Double – Intermediate: City of Derry (hd 1) 16:41. Junior 18: 1 Neptune (hd 1) 14:35, 2 Commercial (hd 1) 14:46, 3 Commercial (hd 2) 16:58.

Single – Senior: 1 Old Collegians (S Puspure, hd 1) 15:39. Intermediate: 1 Trinity (S Dolan, hd 2) 17:11, 2 Trinity (Finn, hd 2) 17:34, 3 City of Derry (Hughes, hd 2) 17:50. Junior 18: 1 Neputne B (hd 2) 17:53, 2 Neptune A (hd 2) 18:06, 3 Neptune C (hd 2) 18:24.

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Richard Chambers from Coleraine took gold at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand today as the Britain lightweight four won an extremely close race.

Another Coleraine man, Alan Campbell, made the podium in the men’s single scull, where he took the bronze medal. Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic took gold, dethroning defending champion Mahe Drysdale, who took silver.

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Ireland’s adaptive coxed four took fifth place in the A Final of the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand this morning. The crew of Anne Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin Du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot found themselves off the pace in a race won by Canada, from Britain and Germany. The Irish crew consigned the United States to sixth and last place.

Karol Doherty’s outstanding season in the Arms and Shoulders single scull almost ended with a win in B Final.  The Donegal man led coming into the last 200 metres was deprived of victory (and seventh overall) by a late push by Benjamin Houlison of Australia.  

New Zealand, with Irishman Sean O’Neill in the six seat, made it through to the final of the men’s eight by finishing second in a very exciting repechage. Northern Ireland’s Richard Chambers, in the lightweight four, and Alan Campbell in the single scull, both representing Britain, booked places in their A Finals with good semi-final wins.

World Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, New Zealand, Day Five (Irish interest)

Men’s Eight – Repechage One (First Two to A Final): 1 United States 5:38.48, 2 New Zealand (A Tripp, T Williams, I Seymour, T Wehr-Candler, M Arms, S O’Neill, C Harris, B Hammond; cox: I Pavich) 5:39.08.

Lightweight Men’s Four – Semi-Final Two (Three to A Final): 1 Britain (R Chambers, P Mattick, R Williams, C Bartley) 6:20.48, 2 Germany 6:22.10, 3 Italy 6:23.03.

Men’s Single Scull – Semi-Final Two (Three to A Final): 1  Britain (A Campbell) 7:10.07, 2 Norway (O Tufte) 7:12.32, 3 Slovenia (L Spik) 7:12.83.

Men’s Arms and Shoulders Single Scull – B Final (places 7-11): 1 Australia (B Houlison) 5:36.95, 2 Ireland (K Doherty) 5:37.48, 3 Poland (R Studzizba) 5:39.93, 4 United States 5:39.93, 5 Spain 5:42.58, 6

Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – A Final:  1 Canada 3:36.53, 2 Britain 3:37.08, 3 Germany 3:39.65, 4 Ukraine 3:45.90, 5 Ireland (AM McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K Du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:49.95, 6 United States 3:52.26.

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Ireland will have an A Finalist at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand. The Legs Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four won their repechage today to qualify for Thursday’s final. Ireland were second at halfway to Poland, who caught a crab near the finish and lost out on the top two finish which would have given them an A Final place.

Karol Doherty finished third in his repechage of the Arms and Shoulders single scull. He also needed to finish in the top two to make the A Final, and the Donegal man is set for a B Final on Thursday.

World Rowing Championships, New Zealand, Day Three (Irish interest)

Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Scull – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Brazil (L Luna de Oliveira) 4:57.77, 2 Ukraine (A Kryvchun) 5:01.17; 3 Ireland (K Doherty) 5:02.66, 4 United States (R Harvey) 5:06.35, 5 Poland (R Studzizba) 5:10.31.

Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Repechage (First Two to A Final): 1 Ireland (AM McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K Du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:33.98, 2 United States 3:34.10; 3 Italy 3:35.51, 4 Russia 3:38.13, 5 Poland 3:49.65.

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Ireland’s two adaptive crews must negotiate their way through  repechages tomorrow if they are to make  A Finals at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand. In their first outings, The Legs, Trunk and Arms mixed coxed four finished fourth in their heat, while Karol Doherty in the Arms and Shoulders single scull had a similar placing.

Most of the first day of the event was postponed because of winds, but when competition began in earnest, three Coleraine men competing for Britain all made it through their heats. Single sculler Alan Campbell and Richard Chambers in the lightweight four will be joined in the semi-finals by Peter Chambers, who was second in his heat of the the lightweight single sculls.

World Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, New Zealand, Day Two (Irish interest)

Lightweight Men’s Four – Heat Two (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Britain (R Chambers, P Mattick, R Williams, C Bartley) 5:56.40, 2 Netherlands 5:57.07.

Men’s Single Scull – Heat Two (First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Britain (A Campbell) 6:48.49.

Lightweight Men’s Single Scull – Heat Two (First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 New Zealand (D Grant) 7:09.12, 2 Britain (P Chambers) 7:13.08, 3 Netherlands (J Schouten) 7:18.78.

Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Scull – Heat Two (First Directly to A Final): 1 New Zealand (D McBride) 4:57.58; 4 Ireland (K Doherty) 5:09.57.

Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Heat Two (First Two Directly to A Final): 1 Britain 3:23.58, 2 Ukraine 3:28.16; 3 Italy 3:32.59, 4 Ireland (A-M McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K Du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:33.14.

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The Afloat Rower of the Month for October is John Keohane of Kilmacsimon coastal rowing club, who won the single sculls title at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Istanbul. The 31-year-old also competes for Lee Valley Rowing Club and won the Intermediate Single Sculls title at the National Rowing Championships in September. He is a worthy winner of the Afloat Rower of the Month award.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley 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 2010. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2010 champions list grow.

HEAR THE INSIDE STORY OF KEOHANE’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WIN BY ACCESSING THE PODCAST BELOW

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John Keohane of the Kilmacsimon Club in Co Cork took the single sculls' title at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Istanbul. The tall Corkman finished well ahead of Alberto Exarte of the San Pedro club in Spain, with Guiseppe Alberti of Italy third.

 Keohane rows with Lee Valley in Olympic-class rowing and won the intermediate single sculls title at the National Championships. 

World Coastal Rowing Championhsips, Istanbul

Men’s Single Scull – A Final:  1 Kilmacsimon (J Keohane) 37:13.45, 2 San Pedro, Spain (A Exarte) 37:33.77, 3 Gavirate, Italy (G Alberti) 37:43.15.

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The first ever ‘Bulls and Bears’ Challenge Rowing Race was run at the Castleconnell Head of the River at O’Brien’s Bridge. Pairs from different clubs were formed into two eights which fought it out, with a combination of St Michael’s, Castleconnell, University of Limerick and Fermoy coming out on top.

Castleconnell Head of the River, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare, Sunday:

Men, Eight – Junior 18: St Michael’s 11:32. Masters: Fermoy 10:58.

Pair – Senior: 1 St Michael’s 11 min 37 seconds, 2 University of Limerick 11:39, 3 UL 11:47. Intermediate: Castleconnell 12:33. Junior 18: Castleconnell A 12:05

Sculling, Double – Junior 16: Shannon 12:01

Single – Senior: Castleconnell (Pidgeon) 12:22. Intermediate: University of Limerick (P Quinn) 13:02. Junior 18: University of Limerick (Prendeville) 12:24. Junior 16: Shandon (Casey) 13:21. Adaptive: Castleconnell (Laffan) 19:58.

Women, Eight – Novice: Clonmel 13:36. Junior 18: St Michael’s 11:40. Junior 16: Clonmel 13:14.

Pair – Junior 18: St Michael’s 13:04.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior 18: St Michael’s 13:44.

Double – Intermediate: University of Limerick 12:53.  Junior 16: Shandon 14:34

Single – Senior: St Michael’s (Clavin) 13:24, Intermediate: Shandon (O’Mahony) 16:01. Junior 16: Castleconnell (Long) 15:51.

Bulls and Bears: Race won by a combination of crews from St Michael’s, Castleconnell, University of Limerick and Fermoy

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Sean Jacob set a new record when he won his seventh Dublin Sculling Ladder time trial at Islandbridge on Saturday. Fellow UCD student Claire Lambe was the fastest woman and Trinity were the best overall rowing club.

Last weekend’s time trial for the Cork Sculling Ladder drew 155 single scullers,  a new record. Andrew Hurley from Bantry won the trial, with 16-year-old David Collins of Lee Rowing Club a close second. Karen Corcoran-O’Hare of Shandon was the fastest woman.

 

Dublin Sculling Ladder, Time Trial, Islandbridge, Saturday:

1 Sean Jacob (UCD) 6 min 23.5 secs, 2 C Dowling (Commercial) 6:53.5, 3 M Bailey (Neptune) 6:56.0, 4 P Hughes (Trinity; junior) 6:58.0, 5 I Kelly (Trinity) 7:02.5, 6 I O Loinsigh (Trinity) 7:07.5; 8 C Lambe (UCD; fastest woman) 7:12.0; 18 Siobhan Jacob 7:26.0; R Morris (Commercial) 7:27.0.

Casey Cup (Best Overall Club) Trinity.

Cork Sculling Ladder, Time Trial, The Marina, October 3rd (155 participants):

1 A Hurley (Bantry) 7:09.2, 2 D Collins (Lee) 7:10.1, 3 E Foley (Shandon) 7:19.4, 4 J Casey (Shandon) 7:25.9, 5 E Beechinor (Lee) 7:31.0, 6 B O’Keeffe 7:35.8; 38 K Corcoran-O’Hare (Shandon, fastest woman); 51 G Beatty (Shandon) 8:25.8, 59 S Kearney (Lee) 8:30.3.

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Delegates to the Rowing Ireland agm at Neptune Rowing Club in Dublin decided to hold all the National Championships at their traditional time of mid July. However, the Championshhips will run over four days, from Thursday July 14th to Sunday, July 17th.

Rowing Calendar for 2011

(as voted on at agm; Grand League status to be decided; selected international events added):

January 7th-9th: Rowing Ireland Development Camp, National Rowing Centre; 15th: Kerry Head of the River, Killorglin; 22nd: Sligo Head; 29th: National Two-Blade Head of the River, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare.

February 12th: Rowing Ireland Ergometer Test, Newry; 13th: Rowing Ireland 5K Assessment, Newry; 19th: Cork Head, Lagan Scullers’ Head. 26th: National Four-Blade Head of the River, Carrick-on-Shannon.

March 4th-6th: Rowing Ireland Development Camp, venue to be chosen. 5th: Dublin Head of the River; 12th: Erne Head of the River, Enniskillen; 19th: Tribesmen Head, Galway city; 26th National Eight-Blade Head of the River, River Lagan, Belfast.

April 2nd: Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge, Dublin; 9th: University Championships and Schools’ Regatta, NRC; 10th: Skibbereen Regatta, NRC; 15th-18th: National Trials, NRC; 16th: Trinity Regatta, Islandbridge, Dublin; 30th: Limerick Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge.

May 7th: Bantry Regatta; 7th-8th: KRSG Ghent; 14th Queen’s Unversity Regatta, Castlewellan; 21st: Cork Regatta. 22nd: Lee Regatta; 27th: 27th-29th: World Cup One, Munich, Germany. 28th: Metropolitan Regatta, Blessington.

June 5th: Carlow Regatta, Carlow; 11th: Belfast Sprint Regatta; 17th-19th: World Cup Two, Hamburg, Germany; 18th: Athlone Regatta, Coosan Point; 19th: Galway Regatta; 25th: Portadown Regatta; 26th: Castleconnell Sprint Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare. 29th-July 3rd: Henley Royal Regatta.

July 2nd: Monkstown Cork Harbour, National Rowing Centre; 3rd: Fermoy Regatta; 8th-11th: World Cup Three, Lucerne. 14th-17th: National Championships NRC; 18th-29th: Rowing Ireland Summer Academy, NRC; 21st-24th: World Under-23 Championships, Amsterdam. 23rd: Home Internationals; 30th Coupe de la Jeunesse; 31st: Carrick-on-Shannon Sprints. 

August 3rd-6th: World Junior Championships, Dorney Lake, Eton. 15th-18th: Lagan Sculling Camp. 27th: Belfast Summer Sprints. 28th-September 4th: World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia.

September 16th-18th: Rowing Ireland Development Camp, venue tbc;  16th-18th: European Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.  24th-25th (provisional): Festival of Rowing, NRC. 

October 1st: Tullamore Time Trials. 21st-22nd: Rowing Ireland Development Camp, venue tbc. 22nd: Castleconnell Head, O’Brien’s Bridge; 24th-27th: Rowing Ireland Academy Camp, NRC.

November 5th: Neptune Head, Blessington; 12th: Bann Head, Coleraine. 19th: Skibbereen Head, NRC; 26th-28th: Rowing Ireland Development Camp, venue tbc.

December 10th: Muckross Head, NRC; 17th: Rowing Ireland Ergometer Tests, Newry; 18th: Rowing Ireland 5k Assessment, Newry.

FORUM discussion on the calendar HERE

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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.

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