Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: rowing

Fourteen visually impaired teenagers from both Rosmini Secondary School and St. Joseph’s Centre for the Visually Impaired took part in a rowing intro afternoon at  Dublin Municipal Rowing Centre this week. The aim of the afternoon was to introduce them to indoor rowing as well as rowing on the water and to show the participants as well as their teachers and carers that rowing is an activity that caters for those with visual impairments.The students ranged from being completely without sight to some with partial sight. A number of the group had a visual impairment combined with a learning difficulty. For the group, with the exception of one student from Rosmini, this was their first experience of rowing. Rosmini student Aron O’Dowd, who won a bronze medal at the World Indoor Rowing Championships, is the perfect illustration of this and he spent the afternoon teaching his peers the skills he has learned.

All those who took part in the day thoroughly enjoyed it, and even the four teachers and carers who came along got out on the water for their first time! With the amount of interest from the day I believe there is great potential for Rosmini and St. Joseph’s to develop a link with the sport, whether that be taking up a regular slot at Municipal Rowing Centre or entering teams in the adaptive events at the 2010 Irish Indoor Rowing Championships.

The try it out day also highlighted the use of ErgChatter, a free download from Concept2 which allows the data on the performance monitor (PM3 or PM4) to be spoken aloud through a laptop or PC. It is very simple to use as all it requires is a printer cable that connects performance monitor to one’s laptop or computer. ErgChatter allows the user to choose what data they want to have read out, and at what intervals. It also allows users to set up specific training sessions.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

 

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Neptune Rowing Club (Dublin) top the new Rowing Ireland Grand League table with two regattas under their oars but this could all change by next Saturday when the third regatta of the six series league takes place at the National Rowing Centre in Cork.

 

While Dubliners Neptune will be there in force with crews in most grades from under 14 to senior, they will be strongly challenged by the other big clubs, Skibbereen, UCD, Dublin Commercial and St. Michaels from Limerick. In particular, Skibbereen will compete strongly in mainly small boats. (Note: See current league standings below.)

Rowing Ireland spokesperson, Pat McInerney explained, “The overall entry for the regatta is well ahead of previous years which shows that clubs are embracing the new league format and enjoying the enhanced competition structure it offers.”

“From here on this season the top racing group of senior, intermediate and junior A will be collectively known as Division 1 while the novice, junior B and junior 16 group will be known as Division 2.  With a massive entry of almost thirty junior 16 men’s single scullers, this is indicative of the health of sculling in the younger ranks and must augur well for the future.”

University of London, who are coached by former Irish lightweight rower, Brian Young, .are sending their men’s squad to challenge for senior eights, fours and pairs.  They will line up in the eights against NUIG, Neptune, St Michaels, University of Limerick, Muckross and the top Junior eights of St Josephs and Presentation. This presents a very attractive prospect in store for the famed Leander trophy for eights which was first presented at Cork City regatta in 1904 when the world famous Leander club from London came to challenge for the trophy. 

The Grand League offers an overall prize for top club based on all entries and this suits the bigger clubs. Smaller clubs can challenge for individual boat class or one of the four major categories of senior men, women, junior men and junior women

 

Current Grand League standings:

 

1    NEPTUNE ROWING CLUB                                       219

2    COMMERCIAL RC                                                      206

3    SKIBBEREEN RC                                                       192

4    UCD BOAT CLUB                                                       171

5    ST MICHAEL'S ROWING CLUB                              150

6    PORTORA BOAT CLUB                                            117

7    CARRICK-ON-SHANNON ROWING CLUB           102

8    BANN ROWING CLUB                                               93

9    LEE ROWING CLUB                                                  86

10  GARDA SIOCHANA BOAT CLUB                           83

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing

There are just ten days remaining for you to get your entry in for the annual Ocean to City race starting in Crosshaven and finishing in Cork City.

The 15-mile race starts at 11.30am at Royal Cork YC on June 12, passing Cobh, Monkstown and Passage West before heading on into Lough Mahon, with the finish at Lapps Quay.

This year's race will feature Atlantic rower Peter Williams and entry is €30 per person, with a €10 entry fee for junior rowers.

More details on the official race website.

OCEANTOCITY.COM

FACEBOOK PAGE

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Niall Kenny, from NUIG, and Justin Ryan of UCC finished second to Germany in a very competitive under-23 lightweight double scull final at the Wedau International Regatta in Duisburg. The Irish were the only crew to stay in touch with Clemens Hubler and Matthias Arnold, who made up half of the German lightweight quadruple which took silver at the World Under-23 Championships last year. Italy’s Davide Babboni and Tommaso Sacchini, well back in third place, were the bronze medallists in the lightweight double scull at last year’s Under-23 World Championships.

Wedau International Regatta, Duisburg, Germany, Sunday (Selected Results)

Men, Eight – Final: 1 German Composite 5:47.84; 4 Queen’s 6:10.90.

Pair - Final: 1 Greece (I Tsilis, G Tziallas) 6:51.32; 5 Old Collegians/NUIG (Jacob, Folan) 7:02.49.

Under-23 Lightweight Pair – Heat One: 5 UCD/St Michael’s (English, Hanily) 7:20.75.

Under-23 Lightweight Double Scull – Heat Two: 3 NUIG/UCC (N Kenny, J Ryan) 7:07.11. Final: 1 German Composite (C Hubler, M Arnold) 7:00.83, 2 NUIG/UCC (Kenny, Ryan) 7:02.71, 3 Italy (D Babboni, T Sacchini) 7:09.83, 4 France 7:12.95, 5 Greece 7:16.33, 6 Strathclyde/Durham 7:17.30

Single Scull – Heat One: 3 Queen’s (Williamson) 7:39.69. Final: 1 Greece (I Christou) 7:39.57; 3 Queen’s (Williamson) 7:46.44.

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat One: 6 Commercial (Maher) 7:59.91. Heat Three: 4 Muckross (Moynihan) 7:43.15. B Final: 2 Muckross (Moynihan) 7:47.17.

Women

Quadruple (Straight Final): 1 Austria 7:04.56, 2 St Michael’s/Old Collegians/Carrick-on-Shannon/Tribesmen (Clavin, Jacob, Kelly, McCrohan) 7:06.59.

Single Scull – Heat Two: 2 Old Collegians (Puspure) 8:33.68. A Final: 1 Rostock (M-L Draeger) 8:14.89; 5 Old Collegians (Puspure) 8:31.97.

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat One: 4 Trinity (Dolan) 8:56.14. Heat Three: 4 UCD (Lambe) 8:40.21. B Final: 1 UCD (Lambe) 8:44.28, 2 Trinity (Dolan) 8:45.83.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Irish crews recorded three third-place finishes on the second day of the Wedau International Regatta in Duisburg in Germany. For the Ireland team, the under-23 lightweight double scull of Niall Kenny and Michael Maher and Sanita Puspure in the women’s single scull were on the mark. The senior eight from Queen’s Unversity continued their good form, conceding only to the Poland and France under-23 squad crews. Poland won the under-23 world championships last year, and three of that crew and the cox were in the crew which finished 2.31 seconds ahead of Queen’s. Eton College, in fourth, were almost five seconds behind the Belfast crew.

Wedau International Regatta, Duisburg, Germany (Day Two, Selected Results)

Men,

Eight – A Final (Men/Women): 1 Polish Composite 6:14.70, 2 France 6:15.11, 3 Queen’s University 6:17.01; 4 Eton College 6:21.91, 5 German Under-23 Composite 6:40.52, 6 France (Women) 7:12.34.

Pair – Heat One: 1 Greece (I Tsilis, G Tziallas) 7:01.98, 2 Old Collegians/NUIG (S Jacob, C Folan) 7:05.81.

Under-23 Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 France (C Breschet, E Jonville) 7:25.55; 6 UCD/St Michael’s (A English, P Hanily) 7:50.57.

Under-23 Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two: 1 Greece (P Magdanis, E Konsolas) 7:11.38, 2 NUIG/Commercial (N Kenny, M Maher) 7:12.57. A Final: 1 Greece 7:12.44, 2 France (A Pilat, C Fonta) 7:15.88, 3 NUIG/Commercial (Kenny, Maher) 7:15.90.

Single Scull – Heat Two: 1 Krakow (W Chabel) 7:36.77, 4 Queen’s University (C Williamson) 7:51.73.

Lightweight Single Scull – Semi-Final One: 1 Neptun eV Konstanz (I Voigt) 7:38.80, 6 Muckross (C Moynihan) 7:54.32. B Final: 1 Muckross (Moynihan) 8:02.18.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One: 1 Austria (M Taupe-Traer, S Borzacchini) 7:54.17, 5 Old Collegians/Tribesmen (S Jacob, S McCrohan) 8:06.92. Heat Two: 1 Zug/Thun (F Albrecht, D Birrer) 8:05.06; 3 Carrick-on-Shannon/St Michael’s (D Kelly, S Clavin) 8:13.38. A Final: 1 Treptower/Potsdamer (D Reimer, S Burmeister) 7:57.24; 5 Carrick/St Michael’s (Kelly, Clavin) 8:12.24. B Final:

Under-23 Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two: 1 France (C Mulot, R Jung) 8:2.06, 2 Trinity/UCD (S Dolan, C Lambe) 8:03.17. A Final: 1 Greece 8:08.19; 6 Trinity/UCD (Dolan, Lambe) 8:21.67

Single Sculls – Heat Two: 1 Rostocker (J Lepke) 8:18.78, 3 Old Collegians (S Puspure) 8:22.25. A Final: 1 Koninklijke Belgische (A DeDecker) 8:28.86, 2 Greece (A Tsiavou) 8:31.92, 3 Old Collegians (S Puspure) 8:34.31.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Lightweight single sculler Cathal Moynihan and the the under-23 lightweight pair of Anthony English and Peter Hanily both advanced to today’s round of the Wedau Regatta in Duisburg in Germany yesterday. The men’s pair of Sean Jacob and Cormac Folan could only finish sixth in their heat and must wait until Sunday to compete again.

Wedau Regatta, Duisburg, Day One (Selected Results)

Men, Pair - Heat Three: 6 S Jacob, C Folan 7:06.77.

Under-23 Lightweight Pair – Heat Two: 2 A English, P Hanily 7:26.40.

Lightweight Single Scull: Heat One 3 C Moynihan 7:47.38.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

The first Irish man to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean has spoken of his fears that some one will be killed on the challenge which he says was "horrific". After spending 118 days at sea Limerick man Seán McGowan was honoured with a mayoral reception in his native city last night Kathryn Hayes has the full story on the Woodvale Ocean Rowing Race in the Irish Times. Click read more for the story link.

Sean McGowan reached land in Antigua May 1 to become the first Irish-based oarsman to row across an ocean. The 42-year-old from Shannon Rowing Club crossed the Atlantic in 118 days one hour and 14 minutes. He had rowed out of La Gomera in the Canary Islands on January 4th.

Solo rower warns against 'horrific' Atlantic challenge

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing

A new initiative to get schoolkids rowing will pit schools against each other online in virtual rowing competitions.

Rowing Ireland’s ‘Get Going, Get Rowing’ initiative is underway and has already brought several schools into contact with the sport. The first phase of the programme gets children rowing on machines and competing online, and hopes to assist them to make the transition onto the water.

Rowing Ireland’s Development Officer, Lisa Hayden explained that they hope to set up a schools league using the online rowpro software, where 16 'boats' can compete online.
She said the experience is 'like a Nintendo Wii, but it's not just giving the illusion of exercise, it's real exercise'.
“The 'Get Going...Get Rowing' initiative is about getting as many young people active as possible through the use of rowing machines, known as ergometers. There are different incentives and lesson plans devised to ensure that it never gets boring. The initiative gives students the opportunity to experience on of Ireland's most successful Olympic sports.
"It is important to the growth of the sport, and getting students, particularly girls, involved at this age is critical if they are to remain active for the rest of their lives.”

The programme will then join with clubs like the Dublin Municipal Rowing Centre, run by Dublin City Council, to transfer rowing enthusiasm into boats on the river.

GET GOING...GET ROWING ON FACEBOOK

DUBLIN MUNICIPAL ROWING CENTRE

ROWING IRELAND

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Claire Cooney and Ruth Morris of Commercial led the way for Ireland at the KRSG regatta in Ghent, Belgium. They were the fastest junior women’s pair on both Saturday and Sunday. Cork’s Marie O’Neill took gold on Saturday and silver yesterday in the senior single scull. Adrian Sheehan of Castleconnell was an impressive second yesterday in the junior 18 single scull.

 KRSG Regatta, Ghent, Belgium (Selected Results)

Saturday

Men, Eight – Junior: 1 France 6:00.0, 2 Abingdon School (Britain)  6:01.50, 3 St Joseph’s 6:18.15.

Four – Junior: 4 St Joseph’s 6:44.60. Junior, coxed: 2 St Joseph’s 7:17.53.

Sculling, Single – Junior: 6 Castleconnell (A Sheehan) 7:44.76.

Women, Eight – Junior: 1 France 6:51.88, 2 Methody, Belfast 7:26.56.

Four – Senior: 3 Commercial 7:24.72. Junior: 2 Commercial 7:42.93, 3 Cork 7:54.81.

Pair – Junior: 1 Commercial (C Cooney, R Morris) 8:22.56.

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 Cork (M O’Neill) 8:08.79,

Sunday

Men,

Eight – Junior 18: 3 St Joseph’s 6:24.28. Junior 16: 2 St Joseph’s 6:53.78.

Four – Junior: 5 St Joseph’s 7:06.88. Four, coxed: 1 France 6:42.94, 2 St Joseph’s 7:17.53.

Sculling, Double – Junior: 4 Castleconnell (A Sheehan, E O’Connor)  7:15.91.

Single – Junior 18: 1 France 7:38.22, 2 Castleconnell (Sheehan) 7:39.02

Women

Eight – Junior: 1 France 7:01.75, 2 Commercial 7:39.81, 3 Methody 7:44.56.

Four – Junior: 3 Commercial 7:45.53.

Pair – Junior: 1 Commercial (Cooney, Morris) 8:29.38; 4 Cork (Fehily, L Murphy) 8:40.04.

Sculling, Double – Senior: 3 Offaly (J Moran, E Moran) 7:46.03. Junior 18: 6 Cork (G Collins, N Fehilly) 8:18.44

Single – Senior: 2 Cork (M O’Neill) 8:24.44.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Sean McGowan reached land in Antigua yesterday to become the first Irish-based oarsman to row across an ocean. The 42-year-old from Shannon Rowing Club crossed the Atlantic in 118 days one hour and 14 minutes. He had rowed out of La Gomera in the Canary Islands on January 4th.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing
Tagged under
Page 85 of 86

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