Seventeen-year-old Zoe Whitford from East Antrim Boat Club on Larne Lough is one of ten young athletes to be awarded a £500 bursary by the Mary Peters Trust.

The Sports section of Local Women Magazine in Northern Ireland reports the partnership aims to help young talent on their sporting journeys.

The Mary Peters Trust was established to create an ongoing meaningful commemoration of her Gold Medal win in the 1972 Olympic Games. It is Northern Ireland’s leading sporting charity.

Larne-based Zoe has been competing in the single-handed Laser for some time, and among her 2023 achievements, she was the placed girl in the ILCA 6 class in the Youth Sailing National Championships at Howth Yacht Club and first female and overall 7th in the 2023 RYANI Youth Championships at Ballyholme. Zoe also secured a place in the coveted Gold Fleet Youth Europeans in Poland in July.

Racing in the ILCA 6 class, Zoe has a highly competitive discipline demanding strategic decision-making and strong aerobic fitness.

Local Women continues saying that Zoe’s passion for sailing had been evident from a young age. Zoe said: “I have always grown up around the yacht club as my Mum sails regularly and seeing people on the water from a young age lit a fire in me. I began my sailing journey through participating in summer beginner sailing courses at age seven and have been a member of the RYA Youth Performance Programme for six years, first while competing in my Topper and then in both ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7} and ILCA6.

Chris Dorman, newly appointed Commodore of East Antrim BC, is delighted at Zoe’s progress. “I think it’s fantastic that Zoe has been selected for the bursary. She is more than deserving of it, given the immense effort and time commitment that Zoe puts into her sailing career, not to mention the juggling act of her academics included in the mix. Normally, when I’m speaking to her Mum, Lucy, she’s telling me how Zoe is away training here or competing there! It’s great that a young club member is doing so well”.