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#Rowing: Ireland just missed out on a place in the A/B semi-finals of the junior men’s quadruple at the World Junior Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. The crew of Luke Hayes Nally, Alex Byrne, Jack Dorney and Jack Keating finished third to Denmark and Chile, with just two boats going on; the race was fast, setting a new record for this event at a World Junior Championships.

 Chile had led through most of the race, with Denmark never far away. Ireland moved into a clear third place. In the final 300 metres Denmark charged into the lead and flew away from Chile. Ireland did their best to catch Chile, but the South Americans kept their nerve well and held on to the crucial second spot by a length.  

 Ireland go to the C/D Semi-Finals. Earlier the women's junior pair of Eliza O'Reilly and Gill McGirr had qualified for the A/B Semi-Finals.

World Junior Rowing Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Selected Results)

Men

Quadruple – Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Denmark 5:52.45, 2 Chile 5:56.25; 3 Ireland (L Hayes Nally, A Byrne, J Dorney, J Keating) 5:58.73.

Women

Pair – Repechage (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C Final): 1 France 7:25.97, 2 Hungary 7:29.32, 3 Ireland (E O’Reilly, G McGirr) 7:31.49.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: A lightweight quadruple has been added to the Ireland team for the senior World Championships. Andrew Goff, Ryan Ballantine, Jake McCarthy and Fintan McCarthy will compete alongside the four women’s crews and three men’s crews named earlier this week.

Ireland Team for World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, September 9th to 16th:

Men

Pair: M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll

Lightweight Quadruple: Andrew Goff, Ryan Ballantine, Fintan McCarthy, Jake McCarthy

Double Sculls: Ronan Byrne, Philip Doyle

Lightweight Double Sculls: Gary O’Donovan, Paul O’Donovan

Women

Pair: Aifric Keogh, Emily Hegarty

Double Sculls: Monika Dukarska, Aileen Crowley

Lightweight Double Sculls: Aoife Casey, Denise Walsh

Single Sculls: Sanita Puspure

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s junior men’s quadruple took fourth in their heat and the junior women’s double fifth at the World Junior Championships at Racice in the Czech Republic.

 Two boats qualified for the semi-finals from the heats of the quadruple, and Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy vied for these places in the second half of the race, with Italy missing out. Ireland were next in line.

 Greece were convincing winners of their heat of the women’s double, grabbing hold of the one semi-final place on offer. Ciara Moynihan and Ciara Browne held fifth through the race.

 Earlier, the Ireland junior men’s coxed four qualified from their heat. The junior women’s pair took fourth and face into a repechage.

 The schedule was brought forward and races run at five-minute intervals because of the forecast of very high temperatures in the middle of the day.  

World Junior Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (C Mulready, J O’Donovan, F Driscoll, E Gaffney; cox: E Finnegan) 6:39.91.

Quadruple – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 3 Ireland (L Hayes Nally, A Byrne, J Dorney, J Keating) 6:13.31.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (G McGirr, E O’Reilly) 7:54.87

Double – Heat Two (First to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (C Moynihan, C Browne) 7:47.20.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland had a good start to their campaign in the World Junior Championships. The Ireland coxed four of Conor Mulready, James O’Donovan, Fintan O’Driscoll, Eoin Gaffney and cox Eoin Finnegan took a good second place in their heat, comfortably qualifying for their semi-finals as the second of three qualifiers. Canada won and Russia came through in third.  

 In the women’s junior pair, Gill McGirr and Eliza O’Reilly took fourth in their heat and will face into a repechage. The United States won – by an extraordinary margin – from Canada, while Britain came through in their own battle for third with Ireland.

World Junior Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (C Mulready, J O’Donovan, F Driscoll, E Gaffney; cox: E Finnegan) 6:39.91.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (G McGirr, E O’Reilly) 7:54.87

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey gave Irish fans plenty to cheer about at the European Rowing Championships in Strathclyde Park in Scotland. The Ireland lightweight double fought it out with Germany in an exciting B Final. Germany’s Leonie Pless and Katrin Thoma led at halfway, but Walsh and Casey pushed into that lead for the remaining 1,000 metres. As they crews came to the line, cheered on by the crowd, Ireland upped the rate. The Germans held out and won by one-third of a length.

European Rowing Championships, Day Four (Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 11): 1 Germany 7:11.14, 2 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:11.77, 3 Austria 7:15.63.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan finished fourth in their heat of the pair on the opening day of the European Championships in Strathclyde, Glasgow. Just two crews go through to the A/B semi-finals, and Ireland face into a repechage.

 The race was well jugdged by Matthew Rossiter and Oliver Cook of Britain. They held a place behind leaders Belarus and the Netherlands until the final quarter, then elbowed their way into second. The Netherlands cracked and finished third.

 O’Driscoll and O’Donovan rowed well, but were not part of the final charge for qualification places and eased off with an eye on the repechage.

European Rowing Championships, Strathclyde, Scotland (Day One, Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals, rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus 6:37.38, 2 Britain 6:37.76; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:48.94.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland took a bronze medal in the junior men’s pair at the Coupe de la Jeunesse at the National Rowing Centre today. The crew of Odhran Donaghy and Nathan Timoney finished behind Belgium and Italy. On Saturday, Ireland had taken a bronze medal in the men’s coxed four final and took a silver medal in the women’s double (Molly Curry and Aoibhinn Keating) and a bronze in the men’s pair (Donaghy and Timoney) on the basis of heat times as finals could not be held because of the high winds. Britain won the overall prize and topped the junior men's  rankings. They were second to France in the junior women's table. Ireland were third overall in the men's and women's rankings .

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ronan Byrne had to settle for fifth place in the final of the men’s single sculls at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. The defending champion, Trevor Jones of Canada is just 20 but he managed the race superbly, taking the lead and holding out against challenges from Marc Weber of Germany and Ben Davison of the United States. Behind these, Bulgaria’s Boris Yotov and Byrne fought their own battle through the middle of the race. In the final 200 metres, Davison, in third, caught a crab and left the bronze medal open – but it was the Bulgarian who grabbed it. Davison took fourth ahead of Byrne.

World Under-23 Championships, Poznan, Poland, Day Five (Irish interest):

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Spain 6:16.29, 2 Italy 6:16.66, 3 Germany 6:17.87; 5 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:20.42.

Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Canada 6:48.70, 2 Germany 6:50.51, 3 Bulgaria (B Yotov) 6:51.42; 5 Ireland (R Byrne) 6:59.57.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (places 7 to 12): 5 Ireland 7:11.0.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s Fintan and Jake McCarthy finished fifth in their A Final of the lightweight double sculls at the World Under-23 Championships in Poznan, Poland, today. Spain took over from Germany to lead in the middle stages of the race and they saw off an Italian challenge late in the race. Italy slotted into second, and a race developed between Germany, Chile and Ireland for the bronze medal. Ireland could not crack it, and Germany took third, with Chile fourth.

World Under-23 Championships, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest):

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Spain 6:16.29, 2 Italy 6:16.66, 3 Germany 6:17.87; 5 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:20.42.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The McCarthy twins, Jake and Fintan, gave Ireland its fourth A Finalist at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Poland today. They finished second in the semi-final of the lightweight double sculls. This was a close race: Spain led early on and eventually won from fast-finishing Ireland, who had won a battle with New Zealand, who took the third qualifying spot, and Portugal, who took fourth.

The early stages looked very promising for the women’s lightweight double of Lydia Heaphy and Margaret Cremen in their semi-final. They led to 700 metres, but then Greece and, with a more consistent challenge, Italy, moved ahead. The early part of the third quarter saw the Ireland crew fight a battle with Australia. The Australians moved into a clear third and from there Ireland slipped back. They finished fifth, behind the Netherlands, who took fourth.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Day Four, Poznan, Poland

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) 1 Spain 6:41.66, 2 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:42.45, 3 New Zealand 6:44.17.

Single Sculls – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States (B Davison) 7: 14.65, 2 Ireland (R Byrne) 7:17.88, 3 Germany (M Weber) 7:24.24.

Lightweight Single Sculls – D Final (Places 19 to 24): 2 Ireland (H Sutton) 7:21.95.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Italy 7:24.69, 2 Australia 7:30.08, 3 Greece 7:31.23; 5 Ireland (L Heaphy, M Cremen) 7:47.66.

Published in Rowing
Page 11 of 76

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