Name: Sean Waddilove
Event: 49er Sailing
Age: 25
A Skerries Sailing Club man, Sean Waddilove has been representing Ireland on the international stage since the age of 12 and he has been competing with Robert Dickson in the 49er class for just over six years but the pair have been competing in junior classes for over ten years.
This will be the pair's second Olympic Games where Sean is the 'crew' member. They qualified the Irish boat for the games in the 49er Europeans in October 2023 finishing fifth which is a particular career highlight for Waddilove. They had to go through a national trial, eventually pipping Cork's Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan at the final event in May.
Waddilove has put his studies at TU on hold since the Tokyo Olympics, such are the travel commitments in sailing.
The pair had two race wins in Tokyo and finished 13th overall, despite a controversial disqualification due to harness weight that somewhat overshadowed their Games performance. They missed the medal race by three places and will be aiming to get into the final day of the Olympic Regatta in Marseille.
"After the 420 class when you commit to any Olympic class like the 49er you commit to that knowing that we need to work towards the Olympics here. When we committed to going together in the 49er I think that was the end goal that we wanted to get to the Olympics."
"Matt (McGovern) having two Olympics under his belt is huge for us because he is able to give us the insights that we didn't have for our first Olympics in Tokyo. Between us with four Olympics there is very little that will phase us," Waddilove told RTÉ Sport last month.
