Two-time Olympian Matt McGovern returns to the Irish Sailing Team as coach
by Treasa Cox 25 Oct 2019 20:33 BST
Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern win the 49ers at 47 Trofeo Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR © David Branigan / Oceansport
Matt McGovern, who represented Ireland in the 49er class at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, has re-joined the Irish Sailing Team as 49er coach. Matt retired from competing in February 2018, and since then has been working with the RYA Northern Ireland as High Performance Manager.
The Belfast native will now coach the Irish Sailing 49er teams. The teams are Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle who finished in sixth place in the World Cup medal race in Enoshima, Japan earlier this summer (31 August), and in tenth place overall; and Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, 2018 U21 49er World Champions and Volvo Irish Sailors of the Year.
Ryan Seaton is Matt's former skiff partner. The pair earned Olympic race wins at the London 2012 games, finishing fourteenth overall in the 49er class. They then reached the medal race at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and finished in tenth place.
Irish Sailing Head Coach Rory Fitzpatrick said: "it's great to have Matt join the coaching team. An accomplished athlete, he'll bring a wealth of experience to the whole team. He is also one of the most organised and prepared athletes. In our Performance HQ we have a picture of him and Ryan in the workshop - it's placed there as a reminder of Matt's attention to detail, and something we want to inspire the younger athletes with".