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#ROWING: Portora’s men’s junior 18 quadruple scull was the fastest crew in the first head of the Lagan Head of the River on Saturday. The fastest single sculler on the day was a junior – Dylan Mitchell of Bann outpaced intermediate Sam McKeown of Portadown. Senior sculler Ruth Morris of Trinity was the fastest woman, while the Queen's novice eight was the fastest women's crew.

Lagan Head of the River, Belfast, Saturday (2,700m)

Head One:

Overall: 1 Portora men’s junior 18A quadruple sculls 10 min 10.3 sec, 2 Belfast BC mens’ senior double sculls 10:46.6, 3 Methodist A men’s junior 16 coxed quad 11:06.5, 4 Bann jun 18A coxed quad 11:06.5, 5 Commercial club one coxed four 11:07.6, 6 Portora jun 16 coxed four 11:20.0.

Men

Eight – Novice: Trinity 11:27.7.

Four – Club One, coxed: Commercial 11:07.6. Novice, coxed: RBAI 12:14.1. Jun 18A: Coleraine AI 11:24.1. Jun 16, coxed: Portora 11:10.8.

Pair – Sen: Belfast RC A 12:11.5. Jun 18: Methodist 12:05.9.

Sculling

Quadruple – Club One, coxed: RBAI 11:21.2. Jun 18A: Portora 10:10.3; Jun 18A, coxed: Bann 11:06.5. Jun 16, coxed: Methodist A 10:53.6

Double – Senior: Belfast BC 10:46.6. Club One: Methodist 11:18.7. Jun 18A: Bann 11:31.6. Jun 16: Methodist 12:05.2.

Single – Senior: Trinity (J Dover) 12:23.1. Inter: Portadown (S McKeown) 11:55.0. Club One: Trinity (J Norton) 12:03.1. Jun 18A: Bann (D Mitchell) 11:52.5.

Women

Eight – Novice: Queen’s A 12:24.6.

Four – Inter, coxed: Belfast RC 12:45.8. Club One, coxed: Trinity 12:35.6. Jun 18: Methodist 12:17.8. Jun 16, coxed: Portora 12:15.4.

Pair – Senior: Methodist 13:06.4. Jun 18A: Portora 12:49.2.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Belfast BC 13:57.2. Jun 18A: Bann 11:27.8. Jun 16, coxed: Portora 12:44.9.

Double – Club One: Queen’s 12:53.8. Jun 18A: Neptune 12:40.7.

Single – Senior: Trinity (R Morris) 12:27.4. Inter: Belfast BC (S Quinn) 13:11.4. Club One: Queen’s (R Maguire) 13:46.8. Jun 18A: Bann (E Barry) 13:39.9.

POSITION
CREW
NUMBER Club Class Cox/Steerer Time % of winning
time Comments
1 101 Portora MJ18A 4X- E. Gebler 10:10.3 100.00
2 105 Belfast BC MS 2X M. McKibbin 10:46.6 105.95
3 122 Methodist A MJ16 4X+ J. Thompson 10:53.6 107.11
4 121 Bann MJ18A 4X+ C. Bell 11:06.5 109.22
5 112 Commercial MC1 4+ R. Keogh 11:07.6 109.40
6 147 Portora MJ16 4+ M. Woodhouse 11:10.8 109.93
7 115 Methodist MC1 2X E. Magill 11:18.7 111.21
8 128 Bann MJ16 4X+ F. Lestas 11:20.0 111.43
9 124 Commercial MJ16 4X+ R. Keogh 11:20.7 111.55
10 111 RBAI MC1 4X+ R. Hulatt 11:21.2 111.62
11 109 CAI MJ18A 4- L. Beach 11:24.1 112.09
12 102 Methodist MJ18A 4X- E. Sweeny 11:24.9 112.23
13 131 DUBC MN 8+ D. O'Carroll 11:27.7 112.70
14 154 Bann WJ18A 4X- R. Meenagh 11:27.8 112.71
15 103 CAI MJ18A 4X- J. Gregg 11:29.7 113.01
16 120 Bann MJ18A 2X T. Davidson 11:31.6 113.33
17 142 Commercial MJ15 8+ T. Cahill 11:35.0 113.89
18 114 CAI MC1 2X O. Gage 11:39.2 114.57
19 110 Commercial MC1 4X+ R. Keogh 11:42.4 115.09
20 157 Neptune MJ15 4X+ J. Butler 11:51.2 116.54
21 141 Bann MJ18A 1X D. Mitchell 11:52.5 116.75
22 152 Portora WJ18A 4X- L. Mulligan 11:53.1 116.86
23 133 Portadown MI 1X S. McKeown 11:55.0 117.16
24 135 Portora MI 1X E. Murray 11:59.3 117.86
25 153 Methodist WJ18A 4X- L. Bell 12:00.4 118.04
26 163 DUBC MC1 1X J. Norton 12:03.1 118.48
27 113 DUBC MC1 2X R. Sugrue 12:03.1 118.49
28 137 Belfast BC MJ18A 1X A. Murray 12:04.0 118.64
29 145 Methodist MJ16 2X X. Young 12:05.2 118.83
30 108 Methodist MJ18A 2- M. Taylor 12:05.9 118.94
31 164 DUBC MC1 1X N. Rawlinson 12:06.1 118.97
32 106 Belfast RC A MS 2- I. Crawford 12:11.5 119.86
33 144 RBAI MN 4+ D. Simpson 12:14.1 120.28
34 107 Belfast RC B MS 2- T. McCaughtry 12:14.2 120.31
35 198 Portora WJ16 4+ S. Dolan 12:15.4 120.50
36 149 Methodist WJ18A 4- O. Andress 12:17.8 120.89
37 127 Neptune MJ16 4X+ M. Hartigan 12:19.7 121.21
38 155 Belfast RC WJ18A 4X- C. Coulter 12:22.7 121.70
39 116 DUBC MS 1X J. Dover 12:23.1 121.77
40 162 DUBC MC1 1X B. Maguire 12:23.4 121.81
41 150 Belfast BC MME 2- C. Hunter 12:23.9 121.89
42 208 QUBLBC A WN 8+ G. Canham 12:24.6 122.01
43 158 Methodist MJ15 4X+ J. Kelly 12:26.2 122.27
44 139 RBAI MJ18A 1X N. Reid 12:26.9 122.38
45 184 DULBC WS 1X R. Morris 12:27.4 122.48
46 168 DULBC WC1 4+ K. Paterson 12:35.6 123.82
47 129 Carlow MME 4+ P. Doyle 12:37.0 124.05
48 177 Methodist MJ15 8X A. Kashyap 12:37.4 124.11
49 170 Neptune WJ18A 2X C. Ferrick 12:40.7 124.65
50 212 Portora A WJ15 8+ J. Willis 12:40.8 124.67
51 182 Portora MME 1X G. Murphy 12:42.0 124.86
52 197 Portora WJ16 4X+ C. McClean 12:44.9 125.34
53 119 RBAI MJ18A 2X M. Gaston 12:45.1 125.37
54 151 Belfast RC WI 4+ B. Kelly 12:45.8 125.49
55 195 Carlow WMC 4X- K. Wall-Scully 12:48.2 125.88
56 171 Portora WJ18A 2- E. Glover 12:49.2 126.03
57 140 RBAI MJ18A 1X H. Heatherington 12:49.2 126.04
POSITION CREW
NUMBER
Club Class Cox/Steerer Time
% of winning
time
Comments
58 138 Belfast RC MJ18A 1X J. Jordan 12:50.3 126.22
59 132 Bann MI 1X C. Mitchell 12:51.6 126.43
60 156 Neptune WJ18A 4X- A. O'Mahoney 12:52.6 126.60
61 165 QUBLBC A WC1 4+ A. Murdock 12:53.0 126.66
62 185 DULBC WS 1X S. O'Brien 12:53.3 126.72
63 202 QUBLBC WC1 2X A. Green 12:53.8 126.79
64 193 Belfast BC MMG 2X D. Gray 12:56.5 127.24
65 160 Belfast RC MC1 1X A. Kernohan 12:57.5 127.40
66 183 C of Derry MME 1X G. D'Urso 12:59.9 127.79
67 148 CAI MJ16 4+ A. Scott 13:02.5 128.22
68 169 QUBLBC B WC1 4+ A. DeBaroid 13:03.6 128.40
69 179 Methodist WS 2- L. McIntyre 13:06.4 128.86
70 143 Portora MJ15 8+ D. Robinson 13:07.9 129.11
71 130 OCBC MMG 4+ M. Cusack 13:07.9 129.11
72 172 Bann WJ18A 2X A. O'Donovan 13:08.4 129.19
73 189 Belfast BC WI 1X S. Quinn 13:11.4 129.68
74 188 Methodist WI 1X C. Deyermond 13:11.7 129.72
75 134 Portadown MI 1X A. Laivins 13:13.2 129.97
76 178 Portora MJ14 4X+ L. Rafferty 13:13.3 129.99
77 125 Methodist B MJ16 4X+ J. Ramsey 13:21.7 131.37
78 203 Belfast BC WC1 1X O. Blundell 13:27.9 132.39
79 146 Commercial MJ16 2X R. Keogh 13:31.7 133.00
80 123 CAI MJ16 4X+ J. Grant 13:31.9 133.03
81 167 Belfast RC WC1 4+ S. Smith 13:39.0 134.20
82 173 Bann WJ18A 1X E. Barry 13:39.9 134.35
83 205 LVBC MME 2X D. O'Hara 13:40.6 134.47
84 204 QUBLBC WC1 1X R. Maguire 13:46.8 135.47
85 206 DULBC A WN 8+ M. Devlin 13:49.4 135.90
86 180 Lagan MMC 1X P. Cross 13:51.8 136.30
87 210 Belfast BC WN 4X+ J. Malloy 13:57.2 137.18
88 166 Belfast BC WC1 4+ R. Cullen 13:58.5 137.40
89 181 LVBC MME 1X PJ Keown 14:16.2 140.30
90 207 DULBC B WN 8+ R. Cusack 14:20.1 140.93
91 117 Neptune B MJ18A 2X P. Dunn 14:20.2 140.96
92 175 Belfast RC WJ18A 4X+ B. McCaughtry 14:20.4 140.98
93 211 QUBLBC WN 4X+ E. Armstrong 14:25.1 141.75
94 214 Carlow WJ14 4X+ M. Nolan 14:35.3 143.43
95 159 Commercial MJ15 4X+ S. Cooke 14:49.6 145.77
96 126 Portadown MJ16 4X+ P. Waterson 14:53.1 146.34
97 213 Portora B WJ15 8+ R. Ballintine 14:55.9 146.80
98 196 Portadown WJ16 4X+ W. Pinkerton 15:09.8 149.08
99 209 QUBLBC B WN 8+ C. McCausland 15:20.9 150.90
100 194 Belfast RC WMC 4+ D. Kelly 15:24.6 151.50
101 190 Methodist WI 1X J. Copeland 15:45.9 155.01
102 215 Portora WJ14 4X+ E. Mooney 15:48.7 155.45
103 199 Carlow WJ16 2X A. Doyle 15:53.1 156.17
104 200 Portadown WMC 1X S. Laivina 16:02.1 157.65
Published in Rowing

#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: Enniskillen club Portora bridged a gap back to 1980 when they won the junior men’s eights title at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. St Joseph’s of Galway, seeking their third successive junior eights crown, fought it out with Portora down the course, but the boys in black and gold kept their heads impressively to pull away at the end.

The Gráinne Mhaol four of Fionnán Tolan, Alan Martin, Cormac Folan and James Wall beat Old Collegians to win the senior fours. The first half of the race was a nip-and-tuck battle, but the Galway crew moved away at 1250 metres to win well.

UCD and NUIG fought it out right to the finish in the women’s intermediate eights, with the Dublin college just shading it. UCD also won the inaugural men’s club eight – by almost eight seconds.

Justin Ryan gave UCC a title when he won the lightweight single sculls from Tim Harnedy of Skibbereen. The west Cork club added to their title roll by winning the junior women’s four.

Clonmel won the women’s novice coxed quadruple sculls from NUIG.

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

Men

Eight – Club: 1 UCD 6:03.79, 2 Skibbereen 6:11.41, 3 Trinity B 6:13.04. Junior: 1 Portora 6:06.24, 2 St Joseph’s 6:10.21, 3 Bann 6:17.78.

Four – Senior: 1 Gráinne Mhaol 6:10.15, 2 Old Collegians 6:14.81.

Four, coxed – Intermediate: 1 NUIG 6:26.37, 2 Carlow 6:29.33, 3 Neptune 6:36.71.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s 6:49.52, 2 Clonmel 7:01.83, 3 Kenmare 7:17.56.

Double – Senior: 1 Skibbereen 6:30.22, 2 Three Castles 6:34.96, 3 UCC 6:45.32.

Single – Lightweight: 1 UCC (J Ryan) 7:26.61, 2 Skibbereen (T Harnedy) 7:31.73, 3 UCD (S Toland) 7:39.60.

Junior: 1 St Michael’s (D O’Malley) 7:17.53, 2 Shannon (C Carmody) 7:22.81, 3 Waterford (A Goff) 7:25.24.

Women

Eight – Intermediate: UCD 6:44.30, 2 NUIG 6:44.92, 3 Queen’s 6:55.60.

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG/Cork 6:57.92, 2 Trinity 7:09.18, 3 Skibbereen 7:16.93. Junior Four: 1 Skibbereen 7:18.45, 2 Muckross 7:29.03, 3 Shannon 7:31.07.

Four, coxed – Club: 1 NUIG A 7:25.50, 2 UCC 7:33.87, 3 Skibbereen 7:38.30.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 St Michael’s 7:49.72, 2 Trinity 7:53.27, 3 Shannon 7:53.29.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Clonmel 7:47.42, 2 NUIG 8:03.81, 3 Athlunkard 8:48.81.

Double – Junior: 1 Cork 7:26.87, 2 Belfast 7:32.25, 3 Commercial 7:36.33.

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Holly Nixon of Portora was in the number two seat of the composite crew which finished second in the final of the Princess Grace for women’s quadruple sculls at Henley Royal Regatta. The race was won Leander and Gloucester, a senior British women’s quadruple, with Gloucester and Northwich, an under-23 British composite crew, three and a quarter lengths behind them at the finish. Nixon wore her Portora colours, but under Henley rules only two club names are listed for composite crews.

Henley Royal Regatta

Princess Grace (Women’s Quadruple, Open): Leander and Gloucester bt Gloucester and Northwich 3¼l, 7 mins 31 secs.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Holly Nixon brought Portora a title at Henley Women’s Regatta today. The Enniskillen woman teamed up with Lucy Burgess, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Josephine Wratten to take the Borne Cup for elite quadruple sculls with a six-length win in the final over a French composite. In the junior coxed four, Portora had given way to Henley Rowing Club (the eventual winners) and in the junior 16 coxed four American crew St Paul’s had beaten them at the quarter-final stage.

Women’s Henley (Finals; Irish interest):

Elite Quadruple Sculls: Gloucester H/Northwich/Tees/Portora bt Grenoble/Caen, D’Avignon 6l.

Trunk and Arms Single Sculls: Tribesmen (K O’Brien) bt Cantabrigian (C Connon) 3l.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Portora won the Stephen Doran prize for best club at Athlone Regatta on Saturday. The Enniskillen club won a remarkable 11 finals, including clean sweeps of the men’s and women’s junior 18, junior 16 and junior 15 eights – with Bann of Coleraine coming in second in the junior 18 races. Portora also won the junior men’s coxed four and junior women’s coxless four.

The men’s senior single sculls winner was Turlough Hughes of UCD, with Damien Kelly of Garda second. Conor Carmody of Shannon won the junior 18 single sculls.

Kenmare celebrated their recent affiliation to Rowing Ireland by recording their first win – in the men’s noviced coxed quadruple sculls.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Commercial topped the rankings with 11 wins and seven second places at the Neptune Head of the River at Islandbridge today. A Commercial/Neptune senior eight won the final race of the day, beating English visitors Broxbourne by half a length in three minutes 46 seconds, the fastest time of the regatta. Colm Dowling, the number seven man in the crew, had earlier won the senior single sculls title. The regatta was held in cold, sunny conditions and had a particularly big entry from Northern Ireland clubs Bann and Portora.  

Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge (Selected Results)

Men, Eight – Senior: 1 Commercial/Neptune (W Yeomans, I Kelly, L Hawkes, AJ Rawlinson, F Groome, J Graham, C Dowling, M Maher; cox: G Connolly) bt Broxbourne ½ l 3:46. Intermediate: Broxbourne bt Portora 1l, 3:54. Novice: Belfast RC bt Bann 1l, 4:12. Junior 16: Portora A bt Bann 2 ¼l, 4:07. Junior 18: Neptune bt Commercial 3l, 3:59. Masters: Old Collegians/Three Castles bt Waterford BC 3l, 5:21.

Fours – Intermediate One, coxed: Portora bt Bann 1l, 4:24. Novice, coxed: Belfast bt Trinity 1¾ l, 4:52. Junior 18, coxed: Portora bt Neptune 1½ l, 4:25. Masters, coxed: Old Collegians bt Carlow 2l.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: UCD bt Trinity 2 ½ l, 4:32. Junior 18: Neptune bt Commercial easily 4:16. Junior 16, coxed: Commercial bt Portora 2 ½ l, 4:29. Junior 15, coxed: Portora bt Bann 1ft, 4:41.

Double – Junior 16: Waterford bt Offaly easily. Junior 15: Commercial bt Athlone A easily, 5:04.

Single – Senior: Commercial (Dowling) bt Three Castles (Corcoran) easily, 4:59. Intermediate: Garda (Kelly) bt Three Castles (Corcoran) 2 ¾ l, 4:49. Novice: UCD (Toland) bt Sligo (Patterson). Junior 18: Commercial (W Yeomans) bt Athlone (Munnelly) disq. Junior 16: Athlone (Munnelly) bt Waterford (Goff) 2 ¾ l, 4:58.

Women

Eights – Intermediate: UCD bt Commercial 2ft, 4:22. Novice: Bann bt Belfast RC easily, 4:34. Junior 16: Portora A bt Portora B easily, 4:50.

Fours – Novice, coxed: Trinity A bt Belfast B 2¾ l, 5:04.  

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Commercial bt Neptune ¾ l, 5:21. Junior 18: Commercial bt Neptune easily, 4:54. Junior 16, coxed: Carlow bt Portora 5:04. Junior 15, coxed: Bann A bt Athlone 3½l, 5:11.

Double – Junior 16: Neptune B bt Neptune A. Junior 15: Bann bt Athlone 1l, 5:38

Single – Senior: Commercial (S Dolan) bt Commercial (E Lambe) easily, 5:32. Intermediate: Trinity (O’Brien) bt Commercial (Foley) easily, 5:27. Novice: Bann (Barry) bt Commercial (Foley) 3l, 5:25. Junior 18: Neptune (Kavanagh) bt Carlow (Byrne) ½ l, 5:36. Junior 16: Commercial (Lambe) bt New Ross (Nolan) 2ft.

Published in Rowing

The Rowing Ireland/Portora composite which won the elite quadruple sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for June. The crew of Eimear Moran, Lisa Dilleen, Holly Nixon and Sanita Puspure beat a British combination crew in the final by four lengths. Dilleen and Puspure had earlier won the elite double sculls.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2011. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2011 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

Two men’s senior eights from Queen's University slotted into the first two slots at the Erne Rowing Head of the River at Enniskillen. The junior 18 quadruple of the host club, Portora, had a fine result, finishing joint eighth overall.

Erne Head of the River, Enniskillen

Overall: 1 Queen’s A men’s senior eight 19 minutes 53 seconds, 2 Queen’s B men’s senior eight 20:21, 3 University of Limerick/St Michael’s men’s senior eight 20:40, 4 Trinity men’s intermediate eight 20:59, 5 Bann men’s junior 18 eight 21:09, 6 Methodist College, Belfast men’s junior 18 eight 21:47.

Men, Eight – Senior: 1 Queen’s A 19:53, 2 Queen’s B 20:21, 3 University of Limerick/St Michael’s 20:40. Intermediate: Trinity 20:59. Novice: 1 Trinity 21:47, 2 Queen’s 22:38, 3 Queen’s B 24:51. Junior 18: 1 Bann 21:09, 2 Methody 21:47, 3 St Joseph’s 22:02. Junior 16: St Joseph’s 23:50. Masters: Belfast BC (E) 24:06.

Four/Quadruple Sculls – Senior: 1 Belfast RC (quadruple) 23:01, 2 LSC (quad) 24:45. Intermediate: 1 Trinity (quad) 22:17, 2 Queen’s (coxed four) 23:39, 3 University of Limerick (quad) 23:59. Junior 18: 1 Portora (quadruple) 22:02,  2 Commercial (quad) 22:51, 3 Portora (coxed four) 22:56. Junior 16: Bann (quad, coxed) 24:05.

Women, Eight – Senior: 1 Trinity 23:42, 2 NUIG 23:51. Intermediate: 1 Queen’s 23:45, 2 Trinity 26:02, 3 Methody 26:16. Novice: 1 Queen’s 25:07, 2 Trinity A 26:29, 3 Trinity B 26:40. Junior 18: 1 St Michael’s 24:41, 2 Portora A 27:24. Masters: Belfast BC (D) 25:39

Four/Quadruple – Senior: 1 Portora (quadruple) 24:32, 2 Trinity (coxed four) 27:28, 3 Garda 28:11.

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Published in Rowing
Page 3 of 3

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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