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NUIG retained their senior eights title at the National Championships in Farran Wood in Cork with an on-the-line victory over Queen’s University which was remarkably similar to their win last year.

The two crews were locked together in the closing stages and a photo finish was needed to separate them. The official verdict was three feet.

The women’s senior eight crown also produced an extraordinary result: a crew formed just for  the Championships won – and won well. Former and current internationals Laura D’Urso, Monika Dukarska and Sinead Jennings were all part of the ‘super eight’ which had almost four seconds to spare over the Old Collegians/UCD composite in second. Favourites Commercial were third.

In the last Championship finals of the day, Shannon won the men's novice coxed four and Queen's A the women's novice coxed four.

National Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day Two

Men, Eight – Senior: 1 NUIG 5:44.61, 2 Queen’s University A 5:44.74, 3 Commercial/Old Collegians/UCD 5:50.6, 4 Muckross 5:51.29, 5 Queen’s B 6:04.5.

Junior 18: 1 Bann 5:54.4, 2 Skibbereen 5:57.6, 3 Portora 5:59.2, 4 St Joseph’s College 5:59.9, 5 Presentation College 6:19.2, 6 Colaiste Iognaid 6:27.5.

Fours – Intermediate, coxed: 1 University of Limerick 6:24.9, 2 Galway RC A 6:29.7, 3 Queen’s University 6:32.2, 4 Neptune 6:32.6, 5 UCD 6:35.3, 6 Trinity 6:36.6. Novice, coxed: 1 Shannon 6:51.1, 2 Fossa 6:54.4, 3 Cork BC 6:55.6, 4 Workmen’s, Killarney 7:07.1, 5 Skibbereen A 7:10.9, 6 Trinity 7:35.6.

Women

Eights – Senior: 1 Castleconnell/Carrick-on-Shannon/St Michael’s/University of Limerick/City of Derry/Killorglin/Skibbereen/Cork 6:36.8, 2 UCD/Old Collegians 6:40.7, 3 Commercial 6:41.7, 4 Trinity 6:43.1, 5 NUIG 6:58.1

Junior 18: 1 Portora 6:42.5, 2 St Michael’s 6:46.0, 3 Methodist College 6:56.7, 4 Muckross 7:16.7.

Fours – Intermediate, coxed: 1 Cork BC 7:12.0, 2 NUIG A 7:13.3, 3 Skibbereen 7:17.2, 4 UCD 7:22.6, 5 NUIG B 7:44.8. Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s A 7:35.9, 2 St Michael’s 7:40.2, 3 Trinity 7:41.3, 4 UCD A 7:54.5, 5 UCD B 7:56.1, 6 Carrick-on-Shannon 8:05.2.

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There was controversy in the semi-finals of the men's senior eights at the National Rowing Championships in Cork.

The University of Limerick cox failed to weigh in for the second semi-final, and the crew was disqualified. 

This left only three crews in the race: Muckross, NUIG and St Michael’s.

One crew could not make it through to the final, and St Michael’s lost out in a race won by Muckross, with NUIG taking the second place in the final.

In the other semi-final, Queen’s qualified two crews, and they were joined by a composite crew from  Commercial, UCD and Old Collegians.

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Bann of Coleraine had a fine victory at the National Rowing Championships in Cork in the junior 18 eights. Skibbereen, who had a very impressive semi-final win, were second.

Portora won the women’s junior 18 eight by a length from St Michael’s of Limerick, who challenged them in the closing stages.

Skibbereen looked odds-on to win the women’s intermediate coxed four, but Cork Boat Club sprung a surprise.

University of Limerick had a surprisingly big margin over Galway Rowing Club in their win in the men’s intermediate coxed four, with half a length of clear water as they came to the line.

 

National Championships, Day Two

Men

Eights - Junior 18: 1 Bann 5:54.4, 2 Skibbereen 5:57.6, 3 Portora 5:59.2, 4 St Joseph’s College 5:59.9, 5 Presentation College 6:19.2, 6 Colaiste Iognaid 6:27.5.

Fours – Intermediate, coxed: 1 University of Limerick 6:24.9, 2 Galway RC A 6:29.7, 3 Queen’s University 6:32.2, 4 Neptune 6:32.6, 5 UCD 6:35.3, 6 Trinity 6:36.6

 

Women

Eights – Junior 18: 1 Portora 6:42.5, 2 St Michael’s 6:46.0, 3 Methodist College 6:56.7, 4 Muckross 7:16.7.

Fours – Intermediate, coxed: 1 Cork BC 7:12.0, 2 NUIG A 7:13.3, 3 Skibbereen 7:17.2, 4 UCD 7:22.6, 5 NUIG B 7:44.8.

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Skibbereen ended a very successful day at the National Championships in Farran Wood in Cork by winning the men’s junior coxed four. Gary O’Donovan, Diarmuid O’Driscoll, Shane O’Driscoll and Paul O’Donovan had over six seconds to spare over Bann B in second.

The men’s novice eight also involved an emphatic win, this time for UCD, with NUIG second.

National Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day One

Men, Eight – Intermediate: 1 University of Limerick 5:44.8, 2 Galway RC 5:48.1, 3 Trinity 5:55.5, 4 UCD 5:56.2, 5 Carlow 5:56.5, 6 Neptune 5:58.4. Novice: 1 UCD  6:05.9, 2 NUIG 6:12.1, 3 Trinity 6:15.2.

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG (P Giblin, A Martin, C Folan, James Wall), 2 UCD, 3 Galway/Neptune, 4 St Michael’s A, 5 Queen’s A, 6 Cork BC. Junior 18, coxed: 1 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan, D O’Driscoll, s O’Driscoll, P O’Donovan; cox: E O’Regan) 6:28.3, 2 Bann B 6:34.6, 3 St Joseph’s 6:39.3.

 

Women, Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 6:33.4, 2 Portora 6:36.4, 3 UCD 6:43.4, 4 NUIG 6:48.8. Novice: 1 Queen’s University 6:41.3, 2 St Michael’s 6:46.3, 3 Trinity 6:50.6, 4 UCD 6:57.9, 5 Neptune 6:58.5, 6 NUIG 7:05.5.

Four – Senior: 1 Skibbereen (S Dinneen, D Walsh, C Fitzgerald, O Hayes) 6:55.4, 2 Neptune, Commercial, Old Collegians 6:57.3, 3 Commercial A 6:59.6.

Junior 18: 1 Skibberen 6:57.8, 2 Cork 7:12.6, 3 Commercial 7:14.5, 4 Shannon 7:30.8, 5 Clonmel 7:36.7

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NUIG took on and beat UCD in the men’s senior four at the National Championships in Cork. The experienced crew of Paul Giblin, Alan Martin, Cormac Folan and stroke James Wall passed the four rowers who had won the Prince Albert at Henley in the final 500 metres and kept a steady rhythm to win convincingly.

Skibbereen, with three of the crew which won the junior four earlier, had a fine win in the senior eights. Teenagers Shelly Dineen, Denise Walsh and Christine Fitzgerald were joined by Orla Hayes in a crew which saw of a challenge of the composite crew of Elaine Fitzgerald, Claire Ludlow, Becky Quinn and Siobhan Jacob.

The women’s novice eight was won by Queen’s University.

 

National Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day One

Men, Eight – Intermediate: 1 University of Limerick 5:44.8, 2 Galway RC 5:48.1, 3 Trinity 5:55.5, 4 UCD 5:56.2, 5 Carlow 5:56.5, 6 Neptune 5:58.4

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG (P Giblin, A Martin, C Folan, James Wall), 2 UCD, 3 Galway/Neptune, 4 St Michael’s A, 5 Queen’s A, 6 Cork BC.

 

Women, Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 6:33.4, 2 Portora 6:36.4, 3 UCD 6:43.4, 4 NUIG 6:48.8. Novice: 1 Queen’s University 6:41.3, 2 St Michael’s 6:46.3, 3 Trinity 6:50.6, 4 UCD 6:57.9, 5 Neptune 6:58.5, 6 NUIG 7:05.5.

Four – Senior: 1 Skibbereen (S Dinneen, D Walsh, C Fitzgerald, O Hayes) 6:55.4, 2 Neptune, Commercial, Old Collegians 6:57.3, 3 Commercial A 6:59.6.

Junior 18: 1 Skibberen 6:57.8, 2 Cork 7:12.6, 3 Commercial 7:14.5, 4 Shannon 7:30.8, 5 Clonmel 7:36.7

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University of Limerick fought of a strong challenge by Galway Rowing Club to take the Intermediate Eight title at the National Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork by one length. 

Trinity won the women’s intermediate eights title. In a four-boat race their closest challengers were the junior crew from Portora, who overlapped them for much of the course. Trinity, coxed by club captain Rachel Nazarin, powered through the line to win by a length.



In the third Championship event of the morning session, the women’s junior 18 coxless four, Skibbereen had a very impressive win.

National Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day One

Men, Eight – Intermediate: 1 University of Limerick 5:44.8, 2 Galway RC 5:48.1, 3 Trinity 5:55.5, 4 UCD 5:56.2, 5 Carlow 5:56.5, 6 Neptune 5:58.4

Women, Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 6:33.4, 2 Portora 6:36.4, 3 UCD 6:43.4, 4 NUIG 6:48.8.

Four – Junior 18: 1 Skibberen 6:57.8, 2 Cork 7:12.6, 3 Commercial 7:14.5, 4 Shannon 7:30.8, 5 Clonmel 7:36.7

 

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The Ireland under-23 lightweight quadruple scull finished sixth in their A Final at the World Cup in Lucerne. France made the pace for much of the race, but it was World Champions Italy who took gold. Germany took silver and France bronze.

The Ireland crew, formed in the run-up to this event, were a little off the pace all through. They will have gained invaluable experience from competing at this level, said Ireland performance director Martin McElroy.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – A Final: 1 Italy 6:30.06, 2 Germany One 6:32.67, 3 France 6:32.80; 4 Germany Two 6:35.12, 5 Denmark 6:35.46, 6 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, M O’Donovan, J Ryan) 6:42.42.

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10th July 2010

McCrohan Sixth in A Final

Siobhan McCrohan finished sixth in the A Final of the lightweight single scull at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne. The 23-year-old did well in the early stages and was second at 500 metres. However, as her opponents made their moves in a good race McCrohan dropped back. Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece, who led for most of the 2,000 metres, was pushed into silver medal position by Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany. Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil took the bronze medal.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne

Lightweight Single Scull – A Final: 1 Germany One (M-L Draeger) 7:48.92, 2 Greece (A Tsiavou) 7:50.69, 3 Brazil (F Beltrame) 7:53.16; 4 Britain (A Dennis) 7:57.47, 5 Italy (E Bello) 7:58.14, 6 Ireland (S McCrohan) 8:04.60.

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Siobhan McCrohan and the lightweight men’s quadruple scull grabbed A Final spots this morning at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne.

McCrohan (23) raced into the final of the lightweight single scull, taking second place to Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece in the semi-final, where three boats go through. McCrohan and Erika Bello of Italy disputed second for much of the race. In the final 500 metres, as Bello and Eri Wakai of Japan made their charges, McCrohan held on to take a clear second ahead of the Italian.

The repechage of the lightweight quadruple scull was a mad dash as four crews from six tried to make it through to the A Final. Denmark moved into pole position early, but Ireland, Brazil and two German crews were all in a fight for the three other places. The Irish crew of Niall Kenny, Michael Maher, Mark O’Donovan and Justin Ryan did well to push through to third at the end, with the two German crews taking the other qualification places.

“You make a mistake in a race like that and it’s all over,” said Ireland performance director Martin McElroy. “They did a really good job.”

 He added: "Siobhan did what she needed to do. Two A Finals is a a good start."

Irish crews took part in four competitive C Finals. The men’s open and lightweight pairs both finished third, placing them 15th overall. Sanita Puspure in the women’s single finished fourth (16th) and the lightweight women’s double sixth (18th). Cathal Moynihan took fourth in this D Final of the lightweight single scull (22nd).

 

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men,

Pair – C Final (Places 13-18): 1 Cuba 6:39.17, 2 Czech Republic 6:39.86, 3 Ireland (C Folan, S Jacob) 6:44.52, 4 France Two 6:48.80, 5 Australia 6:56.86, 6 Egypt One 6:59.75.

Lightweight Pair (Places 13-18): 1 Japan Two 6:50.55, 2 Japan One 6:50.90, 3 Ireland (P Hanily, A English) 6:51.18, 4 Brazil 7:06.94, 5 Indonesia 7:12.72.

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Repechage (First Four to A Final): 1 Denmark 6:08.60, 2 Germany Two 6:09.43, 3 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, M O’Donovan, J Ryan) 6:09.99, 4 Germany One 6:10.63; 5 Brazil 6:11.63, 6 Argentina 6:12.14.

Lightweight Single Scull – D Final (Places 19 to 24): 1 Bulgaria 7:15.81, 2 Japan One 7:19.21, 3 Venezuela One 7:19.66, 4 Ireland (C Moynihan) 7:20.83, 5 Belgium One 7:21.82, 6 Turkey One 7:28.18.

Women

Single Scull – C Final (Places 13 to 18):  1 Germany  Two 7:48.52, 2 Estonia 7:51.57, 3 China Two 7:51.92, 4 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:53.15, 5 Finland 8:01.18, 6 Chile 8:02.95.

Lightweight Double Scull – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Italy 7:12.29, 2 Germany Two 7:14.58, 3 Sweden 7:16.48, 4 Switzerland Two 7:17.26, 5 Russia 7:18.21, 6 Ireland (C Lambe, S Dolan) 7:18.39.

Lightweight Single Scull – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final): 1 Greece (A Tsiavou) 7:54.34, 2 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:55.71, 3 Italy (E Bello) 7:56.21; 4 Japan Two 7:56.29, 5 Sweden One 7:59.27, 6 Netherlands (M-A Frenken) 8:17.52.

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Siobhan McCrohan came third in her quarter-final of the lightweight single scull at the World Cup in Lucerne, securing a place in the semi-finals. The Galway woman led early on, but Erika Bello of Italy and Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil passed her in the second half of the race.

The lightweight men’s pair of Peter Hanily and Anthony English, an under-23 crew, came very close to landing a place in the A/B semi-finals. Even in the early stages of this repechage Canada and Italy were in charge of the first two qualification places. Ireland led a battle for third until the closing stages, when they were pipped by Hong Kong.

Cathal Moynihan finished last in his quarter-final of the lightweight men’s single scull and the men’s pair of Cormac Folan and Sean Jacob were fifth in their repechage. Both crews missed out on A/B semi-Finals.

Sarah Dolan and Claire Lambe saw Poland and China claim the two semi-final places in the repechages of the lightweight double scull. The Irish were a close-up fourth behind Germany in third.

World Cup, Lucerne (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Greece (G Tziallas, J Christou) 6:28.17, 2 Serbia One (M Marjanovic, N Stojic) 6:34.28; 3 Netherlands 6:37.88, 4 Ireland (C Folan, S Jacob) 6:46.06, 5 Germany Two 6:52.75. Repechage (Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 South Africa 6:35.82, 2 Australia 6:35.93; 5 Ireland (Folan, Jacob) 6:40.64

Lightweight Pair – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Britain (A Freeman-Pask, C Boddy) 6:36.53, 2 Germany (D Wisgott, R Gerhardt) 6:39.61; 3 China 6:43.26, 4 Ireland (P Hanily, A English) 6:51.30, 5 Hong Kong 6:58.93, 6 Indonesia 7:12.49. Repechage Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Canada 6:41.86, 2 Italy 6:45.05, 3 Hong Kong 6:46.90; 4 Ireland (Hanily, English) 6:47.80, 5 Japan Two 6:48.51, 6 Brazil 7:01.24.

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Heat Two (First Directly to A Final; rest to repechage): 1 Italy (F Sancassani, F Rigon, F Gabriele, S Basalini) 5:36.36; 2 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, M O’Donovan, J Ryan) 5:57.15, 3 Germany One 6:02.98, 4 Brazil 6:04.55.

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Six (First Four Directly to Quarter-Finals): 1 New Zealand (D Grant) 7:10.97, 2 Hong Kong (Sau Wah So) 7:12.63, 3 Ireland (C Moynihan) 7:12.76, 4 Venezuela (J Guipe Jimenez) 7:15. 13; 5 Finland 7:15.51. Quarter-Final Four (Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Hungary 7:04.68, 2 Slovakia 7:07.03, 3 Denmark 7:07.25; 6 Ireland (Moynihan) 7:21.67.

 

Women

Single Scull – Heat Four (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Final): 1 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 7:47.39, 2 United States (G Stone) 7:53.50; 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:00.59, 4 Argentina 8:06.44, 5 China One 8:15.82.

Lightweight Double Scull – Heat One (First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain (H Goodsell, S Hosking) 7:08.40; 2 Netherlands 7:11.34, 3 Italy 7:14.14, 4 Ireland (C Lambe, S Dolan) 7:21.49, 5 Switzerland 7:23.84, 6 Cuba 7:26.44. Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Poland 7:12.13, 2 China 7:13.91; 3 Germany Two 7:18.09, 4 Ireland 7:18.66

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Three (First Three Directly to Quarter-Finals): 1 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:56.18, 2 Japan One (A Fukumoto) 7:58.86, 3 Switzerland (E Waser) 8:02.36; 4 Zambia 8:06.15, 5 Hong Kong 8:13.50. Quarter-Final Two (Three to Semi-Finals): 1 Italy (E Bello) 7:48.29, 2 Brazil (F Beltrame) 7:50.58, 3 Ireland (McCrohan) 7:50.58; 4 Denmark Three 8:02.13, 5 Denmark Four 8:02.94, 6 France 8:04.38.

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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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