Top performers Murphy and Nucifora join Irish Sailing Olympic Steering Group
Irish Sailing has secured some of sport’s top performers to join the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) with Olympic silver medallist Annalise Murphy, and Irish rugby’s performance director David Nucifora.
The OSG is approved by the board of Irish Sailing (the national governing body) and operates on a four year cycle in line with the Olympics to oversee the delivery of the performance plan with the goal of winning medals. Along with Sport Ireland, the OSG works to ensure that Irish Sailing meets the highest standards of good governance.
The OSG is chaired by John Menton who competed in the Sydney 2000 Olympics as a discus thrower. He succeeded Patrick Coveney as chair in April 2022.
Annalise Murphy is a three time sailing Olympian and Rio Olympic Games silver medallist. She competed in the 2017/2018 series of the Volvo Ocean Race on Turn the Tide on Plastic and was awarded both the Irish Times Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year and the Volvo Irish Sailing Sailor of the Year in 2016. She recently completed her MBA at Trinity College Dublin and as a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s Athlete Commission, recently launched the Olympic Mentorship programme.
David Nucifora is High Performance Director for the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and former Australian player. Nucifora brings a wealth of experience working with top athletes in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and has been in the Irish rugby Performance Director role since 2014.
Chair of the Olympic Steering Group John Menton said
“I am delighted to welcome two such distinguished and experienced high performance sportspeople to the group. Annalise and David bring with them a vast range of different skills and expertise and are both highly respected in their fields as people at the top of their game – they represent the very best of sport in this country. Their experience will bring enormous value to the Olympic Steering Group and to the sport of sailing as a whole."
Colin Kavanagh, a keen sailor and partner in law firm Arthur Cox leaves the OSG board after ten years’ service to the performance programme. His legal expertise has been invaluable in maintaining the highest governance standards. Elaine Mettler, a sailor and employment counsel with Aer Lingus will now take up the legal brief. Also retiring after a long duration of service is Sarah O’Connor, Deputy CEO of Wilson Hartnell.
Menton went on to say
“I’d also like to recognise the significant contributions of Colin and Sarah. They’ve both helped bring the programme forward to one of the most respected in the Irish sports scene”