Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton. Two very different men, from different backgrounds, forming a team they are convinced can win a sailing medal at the Rio Olympics.
McGovern, who at 31 is three years older than his crew-mate, is from a Northern Irish Catholic family with no background in boats.
His father bought a small craft for ‘thirty quid’ after following up a classified ad in the back of a local newspaper and literally set two young sons off into the sport.
Seaton was on boats as soon as he was born. He laughs that me may even have been made on one, his recently-retired parents sold the family home and bought a yacht and he was brought up in the Unionist community.
“I could talk on this for a while because I’m quite passionate about this - I went to the first ever integrated school in Northern Ireland,” said McGovern, referring to Lagan College, which opened its doors in 1981.
“When you grow up in Northern Ireland people put boundaries around you and say if you're in that area you’re a certain religion and you’re a bad guy. It’s amazing how those walls were created without people ever meeting people from the other side of the community.
“I think Ryan and I are pretty lucky that we grew up with parents that are open-minded, and spending time with people from other communities wasn’t something we ever thought about. It still is for a small part of our society.”
"Look at the Irish rugby team and how there’s players from the north and the south and they play together and everyone gets behind them."
Seaton adds: “We get our eyes open a lot from travelling - we see the big picture and see how passionate and proud other teams are to be from their country.
“That’s something Matt and I want - we want to be proud of where we come from. Look at the Irish rugby team and how there’s players from the north and the south and they play together and everyone gets behind them.
“That’s the way we would like to be with our sailing,” he said while speaking to RTÉ Sport.
They are in the 49er class, a pairs event in a fast-moving boat. The first race of their week of competition is on day seven of the games on 12 of August.
The pair joke - and they joke plenty - that Seaton is the brains and McGovern the brawn.
The younger man is at the helm steering the boat and deciding on tactics in crowded waters, making split-second decisions at 30mph.
McGovern works the mast and sail, and the pair are in constant communication.
This is their second Olympics, the elder of the two unsuccessfully tried to qualify for Beijing 2008 with his brother Russell, and they believe that their time has come.
They feel that they are being helped in this quest by having Ian Barker as their coach, the Briton having won a 49er gold in Sydney 2000 - the first year the class was in the Games.
“We have come on a long way and we have a realistically good chance of getting a medal,” said Seaton.
McGovern observes: “You have to set your goals high, aye? We had a really good start to the season. The first European Cup of the year was in Palma in May. Everyone was showing and all the Olympic medalists were there and we won that event.
“That was a real big motivator for us to show that we were on the right track and to keep pushing from there. It’s realistic we think now.
“Last time around we were the fifth-best boat qualifying for the Olympics, but in reality, if we had finished top five we would have been pretty happy (they finished 14th).
“This time around we qualified in the first round of qualification so we had a lot of time to prepare and we really believe if we can pull ourselves together we can have a pretty good week.
“This is our second Olympics and that was always our goal when we got together - from day one it was an eight-year project to win a medal.”
McGovern recently got married to his wife Melissa but the sailing duo laugh that they are just like a married couple too.
They certainly spend more time together than a lot of couples; they train together, they travel to competitions together - usually hauling their gear across Europe in their van - and, of course, they sail together.
They’ve had the occasional bust-up and more than once one or other has thought about breaking up the partnership. They couldn’t ever follow through though.
“We’re pushing each other to be better sailors and better athletes, so you have to expect that sometimes -the hard times,” said Seaton.
And McGovern adds: “We live in a stressful environment where we have to constantly work and perform and get results to keep the funding going.
“We’re trying to be the best in the world and that doesn’t come without pressure, but when you consider the length of time we have been together and the amount of time we spend together we have been really lucky because we are such good friends.”
