I am a  Junior C1  athlete living in County Meath in Ireland. I train up to  18 times a week ( on the water, running and gym work) along with attending school each day.

I am 17 years old and I am the top C1 W athlete in Ireland at both Junior/U23 and Senior level. I need your help to raise funds to support me financially to race internationally this year and my long terms GOAL to achieve selections for the Olympics in 2020 .

      COME WITH ME ON THIS GREAT ADVENTURE. BE BY MY SIDE WHEN IT HAPPENS. WE CAN SHARE IT TOGETHER

I have been canoeing since I was very young , along with my brothers and my Mom. I started canoeing on the canal in Kilcock, Co Kildare at Kilock Canoe Polo Club (KCPC).

There under the guidance from my Mom, who was my coach in the early days, and then Patricia McCormack and her sons Mark and Ciaran, I grew to love the sport .

As I grew older I ran rivers here in Ireland, the Boyne and the Liffey. But my passion for canoe slalom started when I was about 13 years old. My home club is Wild Water Kayak Club in Chapelizod in Strawberry Beds.  I love the challenge of C1 canoeing, it is probably the most difficult discipline of canoe slalom as you sit in the canoe , on your legs and you only have one blade on your paddle.

In my early years of C1 canoe slalom, I have been incredibly lucky to have been coached by Olympian Hannah Craig and Olympian Coach Han Bijnen when I was in the Junior Development programme (2011- 2012) . As well as these I have been coached by Ciaran Heurteau, Robin Knivers and Mark Coleman.

In my transition year after my Junior Certificate , in  2013 , I moved with my brother , Tadhg who took a year out from University ,  to Nottingham in the UK, to train full time at HPP Whitewater course. It was  a big decision and it was difficult to be away from my family when  I was only 15 at the time. But I so wanted to improve at C1, there was no one to coach me here in Ireland and there was no whitewater course here either. I am so grateful to my parents for supporting me during that time and my brother Tadhg who looked after me in Nottingham. Go big brother go.

There I was coached by some of the  top UK international athletes and coaches , Dan Goddard ,  Huw Swetnam and Andrew Hadfield. During the spring of 2014, I spent one month in La Seu d’Urgell training at Parc Olympic Whitewater course where I was coached by Spanish Coach Ekhi Diez .

In September 2014, I started to be coached by Marc Jegou full time and at the British Open in Lee Valley Olympic Course in November , I finished in 7th place overall. This was a fantastic end to my season of racing in 2014 .

My training partner is my older brother Tadhg who paddles K1 and  who supports me on those tough training sessions on and off the water. My other brother Cillian is my training partner in the gym.

Any opportunity I get , I travel during my school holidays, long weekends and summer holidays overseas to train on whitewater to improve my technical performance on whitewater. If you don’t train , you will not improve.  Success in canoe slalom requires a combination of several skills – strength, strength endurance, the ability to read and then know how to utilise water flow.

My long term goal is to get selected to represent Ireland at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. Along the way , I intend to perform at my best and make finals in Junior races this year and in Senior races over the coming years.

I was selected to race for Ireland in the Junior World Championships in Brazil this April 2015 but unfortunately I do not have the funding to travel to the championships. This was difficult for me not being able to race at the Junior worlds but I had to make a decision as to whether I would race at the worlds or race for the summer season in Europe. So I opted to try and race for the summer season instead.

I have also been selected for the Junior European Championships in Krakow in August this year and the ECA Cup Races (10 off) across Europe. Along with this I have been selected to race in C1 Women  senior races ( European Championships , 5 World Cup Races and the World Championships ( Olympic Selections for 2016).

I do not receive any funding from the national governing body of sport (Canoeing Ireland) , the Irish Sports Council or  support from the Institute of Sport . It is a challenge for any young athlete to improve if they do not have the financial support from their sports bodies.

My parents have always  financially supported me and specifically  for the past 2 years when I committed to becoming a high performance athlete.

In 2014, I  was very  lucky to obtain  some sponsorship from  businesses locally- and in Dublin- McGarrell Reilly Group, IBStock Bricks and  GALASPORT (Slalom Boats and paddles)  and SANDILINE (Buoyancy Aid and Cagdecks) .

WHO ARE MY TEAM ON THIS JOURNEY:

The Team of experts who are supporting me with my “Goal” are my parents, my brothers and little sister , my C1 Coach, my Sports Physiotherapist and  Sports Coach .

CI Coach is Mr Marc Jegou ,France :

My Sports  Coach  is  Jonathan Males , Performance1 ,UK:

My Sports Physiotherapist  is David Campbell . Hartmann International Sports Injury Clinic , UL Limerick.

The final ingredient in ORDER TO ACHIEVE my GOAL now is capital investment /seed capital to assist me with costs of training – coaching and travel/accommodation  to races this year and over the forthcoming years.

FUNDING GOAL:

My goal is to raise €5,000 to help me fund competitions- races and across  Europe from July to September , and in the UK in November   as well as 2 white water  training camps in April and June in France in preparation for European racing season.  Costs exceed €20,000 per year for coaching,  competition entry fees,  travel and living expenses and replacement equipment. If I could raise this money it would make a huge difference to me, allowing me to race at the highest level internationally . Help me make it happen . Thank you.

Just a short update to let you know how I am doing.

Thank you all for making this happen. I have almost achieved 50% of my goal on line. As well as that a number of businesses have agreed to support me and gave me donations in 2015 :

So the following businesses have given me funding to help with my racing this year.
Top Manufacturer of Canoe Slalom Boats and Paddles: GALASPORT , CZ Republic
Irish Companies: McGarrell Reilly Group, Dublin : Tricel , Kerry: TK Alarms, Meath; Lucan Orthodontics; Bruce Betting, Meath; Moyglare Sand & Gravel, Kildare ; Topline Clearys, Kildare
Here is a video of my training at Lee Valley. London : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn84pRRFAS8&feature=youtu.be