A crew of 6 sailors from University College Cork, under skipper Mícheál Ó’ Súilleabháin, took to the waters in Desenzano del Garda in Italy from June 6th-10th to compete at the FISU World University Sailing Championships 2024.
Mícheál’s teammates included Michael Carroll, Jack O’Sullivan, Lellie Collins, Mia Murphy and Sally O’Flynn and the team was managed by former Irish Olympic sailor, Scott Flanigan.
The team sailed an excellent qualifying series and finished the qualification round in 5th place out of 16 teams. The athletes felt that they were building strongly into the regatta, such that following a second race win in the penultimate race of the Gold Fleet, they had a straight shoot out for a place on the podium.
Aiming to repeat their fantastic start in the previous race, they unfortunately caught the pin-end, and a subsequent penalty ended their medal hopes prematurely in the final race.
Despite this, it must be noted how well the Irish team adapted to the extremely challenging conditions, with excellence in their speed and boat handling being a testament to the preparation they had put in for the event. It has been a memorable experience for the first ever Irish student team to compete at the championships!
You can read more about the event here.
