Annalise thrills the kids with tales of Olympic glory

OLYMPIC silver medallist, Annalise Murphy, visited a number of schools in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown last week as part of a tour to promote   opportunities to learn sailing along Ireland’s beautiful coastline.

After accompanying Annalise on visits to five schools in the area, the cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Cllr Cormac Devlin, told how he was proud to travel from school to school across the county with the sailor.

“Her achievements, and most of all her message to young people, is one that encourages them to dream big and not fear failure,” Cllr Devlin said.

“She is a wonderful ambassador, not only for sailing but for sport in general.

“I commend the Irish Sailing Association and the council for partnering together on this initiative. As a coastal county, we must all work to promote sailing to the next generation so that the public utilises our waterfront more.”

He added: “The children we met look up to Annalise and we all look forward to her continued success.”

Olympic sailor Annalise is a Sports Person of the Year Award winner that she picked up alongside rowing brothers Gary and Paul O’Donovan.

Annalise navigated her way in stunning style to a silver medal at the Rio Olympics.

After being pipped to the podium at the London 2012 Games, Annalise’s spectacular performance on a glorious August day in Guanabara Bay will live long in the memory of the Irish people.

Her success was Ireland’s first medal in sailing in over 35 years.

The Irish sailor competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women’s Laser Radial class.

She won her first four days of sailing at the London Olympics and, on the fifth day, came in eighth  and 19th.

On the sixth day of sailing she came second and 10th and slipped down to just one point behind the Belgian world number one.

She was a very strong contender for the gold medal but in the medal race she was overtaken on the final leg by her competitors and finished fourth, her personal best at a world class regatta.

 The 26-year-old, from Rathfarnham, spent more than 100 days training in Rio prior to the opening ceremony.

 The Olympic medallist, who still trains at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire, hopes her success will put sailing on the map.

In accepting her Sports Person award, Annalise said: “It really means a lot to win this award.

“It’s great for all the young sailors in the country to realise they can make it if they keep pursuing their dreams.

“I think the Rio Olympics has put sailing on the map and I’ve noticed a spike in the amount of people giving it a go.”

Murphy won her first major medal at an international event when she picked up gold at the 2013 European Sailing Championship.

 She was also nominated for the 2013 RTÉ Sports Person of the Year in December of that year.