Performance Director

James O'Callaghan

Irish Sailing Performance Director

Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway.  A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. James also has a Diploma in Executive Coaching from University College Cork.

He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

James.ocallaghan@sailing.ie

The Coaches and Support

colin kavanagh

Graduate of University College Dublin and Athens 2004 Laser Class Olympian.

Working with Performance Director James O’Callaghan, Rory will create greater opportunities for the sailors through performance planning, athlete and coach review structures, overseeing interactions with team support services, and creating development strategies for the coaching team. Rory’s aim is to get the best coaching knowledge from our teams and generate a progressive Olympic-cycle legacy. 

colin kavanagh

Vasilij joined the Irish Sailing Performance Coaching team in 2018. He is a 3-time Olympic Medallist having won a bronze in Athens 2004, silver in Beijing 2008 & another silver in Rio 2016 making him the most successful Olympian in Slovenia.

 

 

colin kavanagh

Scott Flanigan represented Ireland in the 470 Class in London 2012. He is a graduate of Earth Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and an MSc at Bayes Business School. Scott has several years work experience in analytical and research fields in finance and trading. He acquired further technical skills through an executive course in Data Science and machine learning with Imperial College London.  

colin kavanagh

Ben is our new ILCA 7 coach, coming to Irish Sailing with over 10 years’ coaching experience at the highest levels. He joins us from Australia where he was co-lead National Coach in ILCA 6 during the Paris 2024 cycle for the Australian Sailing Team. Ben will coach two time Olympian Finn Lynch and Senior sailor Ewan McMahon as they begin their qualification journey for LA 2028.  

Support Services

 

Support services provided by ...

  • Mark McCabe Physiotherapist, S+C
  • Mark Wilson Psychologist
  • Kate Kirby Psychologist
  • Faye St Ledger S+C
  • Chris Penny Nutritionist, S+C