IRISH SAILING DUO Peter O’Leary and David Burrows can start making plans for next summer’s Olympic Games.
The pair booked their seats on the plane to London in the Star sailing discipline at the ISAF World Championships in Perth this morning.
But they didn’t do things the easy way, digging deep to secure qualification after a set of penalty turns in the day’s second race had left their Olympic dreams hanging in the balance.
With only the top 11 nations qualifying, O’Leary and Burrows — who started the morning as the 11th nation — knew that every second could potentially be crucial.
And they got off to the best possible start, coming home seventh in the first race to put a little bit of distance between themselves and the chasing pack.
But it looked like all of their hard work over the past six days might be in vain when disaster struck in the second race. They were involved in an incident with the Spanish boat as they rounded the first mark and, for fear of being disqualified, chose to take penalty turns which saw them drop off to the back of the fleet.
The Irish pair refused to give in and clawed back the lost ground to finish the race in 13th. That result lifted them to 12th place in the overall standings and, crucially, the ninth nation going into Sunday’s medal race.
“The Stars certainly did not do it the easy way but they showed great character holding their nerve when it looked bleak during that 2nd race,” ISA Performance Director James O’Callaghan.
The Stars’ success this morning makes them the third Irish boat to secure Olympic qualification in Perth, joining Annalise Murphy (laser radial) and Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern (49er).
“The programme has delivered on its target with the Irish Sports Council of getting three boats qualified early,” O’Callaghan said. “A lot of hard work from each of the teams and coaches have made this possible. With our eyes now firmly focused on the Games we will be working hard with the ISC and OCI to make sure we have a successful Olympics.”
Seaton and McGovern were also in action this morning, placing eighth, 17th and 12th to drop to 12th place in the overall standings. They have one final day of racing tomorrow where they will need to place top 10 in order to make the medal race on Sunday.
In the laser race, James Espey needs a good performance tomorrow if he is to qualify for the Olympics. Espey is currently the 32nd nation with 35 countries qualifying.
