Four Irish Sailing athletes qualified for three events – Men’s Skiff, Men’s Dinghy and Women’s Dinghy – and all produced exceptional results.
Eve McMahon, only 20 years old, at her first Olympics, recorded a 13th place overall in the Women’s Dinghy event. Eve was just 9 points off the top ten nations to qualify for the Medal Race. The opening series in that fleet was not completed due to the light conditions that plagued the Olympic Sailing in Marseille throughout the regatta.
Over the course of the 9 races sailed in the Women’s Dinghy series, McMahon scored 3 top 10 results in the 43-boat fleet – an encouraging sign that though this may have been her first Olympic Games, it will most definitely not be her last.
Finn Lynch, our Men’s Dinghy sailor, completed all ten races in his fleet series with a best placing of 7th. Finn was sitting 25th after his second day of sailing but moved up to 10th position overall by the end of the series, guaranteeing him a spot in the Medal Race. This was an incredible turnaround, giving us an insight into the stamina and grit our sailors possess. Finn finished 8th in the Medal Race, maintaining his 10th place overall at the Olympics, one better than that of Mark Lyttle in Atlanta in 1996, previously the best Irish male single-handed Olympic sailing result.
Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove represented Team Ireland in the Men’s Skiff event. The pair were a joy to watch and maintained a 2nd position overall throughout their opening series, recording some impressive results including a 1st, two 2nds and three 4th places. This qualified them for their Medal Race on the 2nd August. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a case of tiny margins – the Fingal crew missed the podium by just 3 points, after returning to the start-line to exonerate themselves for early-starting, leaving them in 4th place overall. A great disappointment for the pair after a stellar performance, but to return to the homecoming in Dublin the following week, having come 4th place at the Olympics is an achievement very few in the world have equalled.
Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing 49er Coach paid tribute to Robert and Sean “…it takes experience, it takes resilience and perseverance, and the boys have all of that in spades… they can be very proud of their performance during the week.” Matt also reminded us, that for the Gold-winning Spanish pair, this was their 3rd attempt at reaching the podium, having recorded a 4th in Tokyo. With youth on their side, our 49er’s still have plenty to give should they wish to, and we will support them, as we have always done, every step of the way.
The Olympic Games are an excellent platform upon which to see the hard work that goes into the entire journey, from qualifying to competing. Huge gratitude and acknowledgement must go to our clubs, Howth Yacht Club, Skerries Sailing Club and The National Yacht Club for producing and fostering such talent. The four athletes demonstrated their world class capabilities in France and their performances will no doubt echo through our Pathway programme which is brimming with young talent inspired by these wonderful athletes.
Thanks and acknowledgement must also go to team behind the team who inspire, teach and guide these athletes every day – James O’Callaghan (Performance Director), Rory Fitzpatrick (Head Coach), Matt McGovern (49er Coach), Vasilij Zgobar (ILCA 7 Coach), Mark McCabe (Physio and Strength & Conditioning), Mark Wilson (Psychologist), Kate Kirby (Psychologist), Bill O’Hara (Rules Consultant), Willemien Phelan (Meterologist), Scott Flannigan (Data analysis) and the entire Irish Sailing team – Thank You.
