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Displaying items by tag: O'Donovan

#ROWING: The men’s junior coxed four was the standout race of the morning session at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. It took a photo finish to confirm Cork Boat Club’s win over Presentation, with Portora also disputing the lead right to the last 50 metres.

Cork Boat Club also took the women’s junior single sculls title through Oisin Forde, who won a fine battle with Jasmine English of Belfast Boat Club. Forde is from Torrevieja in Spain and with her sister Dervla, who was third, will represent Ireland at the Coupe de la Jeunesse next month.

The men’s senior pair final gave Mark O’Donovan and Niall Kenny of UCD a chance to show why they are in the frame to represent Ireland at the World Championships this year, while a former international Fiola Foley partnered a current one, Monika Dukarska to win the women’s intermediate doubles title.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Selected Results; Finals)

 

Men

 

Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 5:46.25, 2 NUIG 5:50.28, 3 UCD 5:56.96.

 

Four, coxed – Junior: 1 Cork BC 6:35.99, 2 Presentation 6:36.22, 3 Portora 6:38.08.

 

Pair – Senior: 1 UCD (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:46.05, 2 NUIG 6:49.95, 3 Commercial B 7:00.16.

 

Sculling

 

Single: Lee (D O’Sullivan) 7:31.80, 2 St Michael’s (P O’Connor) 7:36.24, 3 Belfast BC (A Murray) 7:39.44.

 

 

 

Women

 

Eight – Novice: 1 Queen’s 7:19.74, 2 Trinity 7:55.75.

 

Sculling, Double – Intermediate: 1 Killorglin (F Foley, M Dukarska) 7:17.17, 2 Commercial 7:20.83, 3 Skibbereen 7:39.99.

 

Single – Junior: 1 Cork BC (O Forde) 8:06.14, 2 Belfast BC (J English) 8:07.11, 3 Commercial B 7:00.16.

   

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Rowing Ireland has announced the crews which will compete at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy, from 23rd to 27th July.

Denise Walsh will compete in the lightweight single scull. Walsh, who is 22 years old, competed in the same event last year, finishing sixth. She has been competing more recently in a newly formed lightweight double scull with Claire Lambe. They finished in 5th position in the B final in their first outing two weeks ago at World Cup II in Aiguebelette. Denise Walsh rows for Skibbereen Rowing club and is in her final year of studying Economics and Geography at UCC.

Paul O’Donovan finished in third place in U23 lightweight men’s scull in Linz, Austria in 2013. He comes from a strong family of rowers, with his father, Teddy, involved in Skibbereen rowing Club. Paul rowed himself since the age of seven. In the recent World Cup II regatta in Aiguebelette Paul won the B final.

Paul’s brother Gary will compete in the men’s lightweight double, together with fellow Skibbereen man Shane O’Driscoll. Gary is passionate about the sport. “My father always had an interest in rowing and he would bring myself and Paul to a lot of rowing events before we started rowing, which we enjoyed a lot,” Gary recalled. “When I was 10 years old, he brought me and Paul rowing for the first time. Since then we have never stopped.”

Shane O’Driscoll, who was in Gary’s class in school, started rowing shortly afterwards and they have rowed together since.

The men’s four from Galway will be hoping for a good result. Many of the crew have rowed since they were at junior level. Richie Bennett and Rob O’Callaghan competed in the four at last year’s Under-23 World Championships, where they finished ninth. Fionnán McQuillan-Tolan recently lined out in the Boston College eight at the Eastern Sprint regatta. Tolan started rowing at St Joseph’s College and won three junior Championships with them.

Ireland Under-23 World Championship Team:

Men

Four: Fionnán McQuillan-Tolan (Grainne Mhaol RC), Richard Bennett (NUIG BC), Robert O'Callaghan (NUIG BC), Kevin Neville (NUIG BC). Lightweight Double Scull: Gary O’Donovan (CIT RC), Shane O’Driscoll (Skibbereen RC). Lightweight Single Scull: Paul O’Donovan (UCD).

Women

Lightweight Single Scull: Denise Walsh (Skibbereen RC).

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan won the B Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette in France this morning. The UCD man was fourth at 500 metres but headed the field in the final quarter and moved clear to win well and secure seventh overall.

The women’s pair of Leonora Kennedy and Lisa Dilleen finished third in their B Final, ninth overall. New Zealand’s Louise Trappitt and Rebecca Scown – who won the A Final at the first World Cup in Sydney – were impressive winners of this race, while Ireland and Canada battled for second, well ahead of Germany One, Britain Two and France.

The Ireland lightweight women’s double scull of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh finished their first regatta together as a crew fifth in the B Final, 11th overall. China Two won from the United States, Australia and Denmark while behind them Ireland outpaced Brazil all the way down the course.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day Three (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:07.46, 2 Azerbaijan (J Afandiyev) 7:08.23, 3 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:10.55, 4 France 7:13.96, 5 Algeria 7:17.64, 6 Switzerland 7:19.68.

Women

Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 New Zealand (L Trappitt, R Scown) 7:10.55, 2 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:15.16, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:16.53, 4 Germany 7:24.64, 5 Britain 7:26.55, 6 France 7:27.64.

Lightweight Double Scull – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 China Two (Huan Zhang, Le Chen) 7:11.20, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:12.17, 3 Australia (E Flecker, A McNamara) 7:13.42, 4 Denmark 7:14.02, 5 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:16.71, 6 Brazil 7:23.33.

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Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Mark O’Donovan ended his participation at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette on a high today. He was entered in the lightweight single sculls after his lightweight pairs partner Niall Kenny had to pull out, but O’Donovan won the C Final this morning. His remarkable drive to the line took him past Aymen Mejri of Tunisia, who had dominated the race to that point. The win placed O’Donovan 13th overall.

The women’s double of Monika Dukarska and Eimear Moran finished second in their C Final, 14th overall and John Keohane in the the same position in the D Final of the open single sculls, 20th overall.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day Two (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – D Final (Places 19 to 23): 1 Bulgaria 7:14.01, 2 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:16.48, 3 China 7:19.41.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany Two (J Schoemann-Finck) 7:00.71, 2 Bulgaria (V Nedelcho) 7:03.69, 3 France (D Piqueras) 7:04.23; 4 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:06.99, 5 Switzerland One 7:14.8, 6 Algeria 7:21.36. C Final (places 13 to 18): 1 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:17.11, 2 Tunisia One 7:17.40, 3 Switzerland Two 7:19.58.

Women

Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13, 14): 1 France 7:12.84, 2 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:20.78.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan finished fourth in the A/B semi-final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Cup in Aiguebelette this morning and will compete in tomorrow’s B Final. The UCD man was fourth at halfway and made a big push in the third quarter, but could not secure a place in the top three.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day Two (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany Two (J Schoemann-Finck) 7:00.71, 2 Bulgaria (V Nedelcho) 7:03.69, 3 France (D Piqueras) 7:04.23; 4 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:06.99, 5 Switzerland One 7:14.8, 6 Algeria 7:21.36.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan qualified directly for the A/B Semi-Finals of the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette in France this morning. The UCD lightweight single sculler was the fastest in his heat, which was run on a time-trial basis. Zak Lee-Green of Britain was second. The fastest two qualified directly.

Mark O’Donovan, rowing in this event after Niall Kenny had to pull out of the originally-entered lightweight pair, was fifth in the in first heat.

The heats were run on a time trial basis to test this out for future events where this format might need to be used.

 On Friday evening, Tom Kelly was fifth in his heat of the Arms and Shoulders men's single sculls.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage)

Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly)

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan finished a close-up second to Petr Cabla of the Czech Republic in the C Final of the lightweight men’s single sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade in Serbia today. Cabla was an impressive winner, outlasting challenges from Croatia’s Luka Radonic and Slovakia’s Marek Reznak and then O’Donovan in the closing stages to win. He places 13th and O’Donovan 14th of the 20 starters.

European Rowing Championships, Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – C/D Semi-Final Two: (First Three to C Final): Croatia 7:10.20, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:11.13, 3 Slovakia 7:11.54; 4 Netherlands 7:12.19. C Final (Places 7 to 11): 1 Czech Republic (P Cabla) 7:08.92, 2 Ireland (O’Donovan) 7:09.59, 3 Croatia 7:12.18, 4 Slovakia 7:20.10. France did not start.

Women

Pair – Repechage Two (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1

Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:20.36, 2 Germany 7:22.89; 3 Czech Republic 7:24.99, 4 France 7:36.63

Double – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Netherlands (N Beukers, I Janssen) 6:54.59, 2 Russia (E Potapova, M Krasilnikova) 6:57.25; 3 Czech Republic 6:58.72, 4 Italy 7:00.87, 5 Austria 7:14.31, 6 Ireland (M Dukarksa, E Moran) 7:19.82.

Single – A/B Semi-Final Two (Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Netherlands (C Achterberg) 7:36.98, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:38.31, 3 Germany (A Thiele) 7:41.36; 4 Ukraine 7:44.95, 5 Sweden 7:45.46, 6 Latvia 7:57.97.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan qualified for the C Final (Places 13 to 18) at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade in Serbia today. The UCD man finished second of the three qualifiers from his C/D semi-final this morning. Croatia and Slovakia both led during the race while O’Donovan held on to second. Croatia’s Luka Radonic came home first, with Marek Reznak of Slovakia third. Fourth-placed Daan Klomp of the Netherlands was the sculler who missed out and will have to go to the D Final.

European Rowing Championships, Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – C/D Semi-Final Two: (First Three to C Final): Croatia 7:10.20, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:11.13, 3 Slovakia 7:11.54; 4 Netherlands 7:12.19.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan, who came within one place of gaining automatic qualification for the A/B semi-finals this morning, could only finish fourth in his repechage at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade in Serbia this afternoon. The two coveted places in the lightweight single sculls semis went to Slovenia and Serbia. The Czech Republic was third and Ireland fourth. O’Donovan’s next challenge is the C/D semi-finals tomorrow.

European Rowing Championships, Belgrade, Serbia – Day One (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Italy (M Miani) 6:56.92, 2 Bulgaria (N Vasilev) 6:59.35; 3 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:02.21, 4 France 7:06.95, 5 Turkey 7:16.58. Repechage (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Slovenia (R Hrvat) 7:06.58, 2 Serbia (M Stanojevic) 7:09.01; 3 Czech Republic 7:11.62, 4 Ireland (O’Donovan) 7:12.26, 5 Netherlands 7:15.5.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Romania (C Grigoras, L Oprea) 7:14.51; 2 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.77, 3 Croatia 7:21.87, 4 Serbia 7:24.46, 5 Germany 7:32.40.

Double Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Poland (M Fularczyk, N Madaj) 6:46.50, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley); 3 Netherlands 6:54.59, 4 Czech Republic 7:10.63, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:16.66.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 7:29.98, 2 Netherlands (C Acterberg) 7:31.64; 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:39.26, 4 Sweden 7:48.13, 5 Latvia 7:51.24.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan finished third in his heat of the lightweight single sculls, just one place outside automatic qualification for the A/B semi-finals, at the European Championships in Belgrade this morning. In fast cross-tailwind conditions, Italy’s Marcello Miani set a hot pace and won well. France, Bulgaria and Ireland vied for the valuable second spot. O'Donovan put in a good second 1,000 metres, but Bulgaria’s Nedelcho Vasilev took second. France were fourth. Ireland, France and Turkey go to Repechages later in the day.

European Rowing Championships, Belgrade, Serbia – Day One (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Italy (M Miani) 6:56.92, 2 Bulgaria (N Vasilev) 6:59.35; 3 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:02.21, 4 France 7:06.95, 5 Turkey 7:16.58.

Published in Rowing
Page 8 of 10

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