Our Organisation
Rowing Ireland is primarily based at the National Rowing Centre in Cork but also maintains an office at Sport’s HQ, Abbottstown, Dublin.
For Media Enquiries contact; communications@rowingireland.ie
Administration
Chief Executive Officer
Michelle Carpenter
Biography
Michelle was appointed Chief Executive of Rowing Ireland in 2018. She previously reignited and managed the Get Going...Get Rowing programme. Michelle has a wealth of experience she worked for the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and on the launch of the Euro 2002 information campaign with the European Central Bank. Michelle won her first Irish Championships in 1988, with Shannon Rowing Club, and was a member of the Irish Rowing squad at junior and U23 level. Rowing with Commercial at senior level.
Guilty pleasure
Most likely to say
Absolutely
Finance & Operations Lead
Alec Moffett
Biography
Alec graduated from UCC in 2012 with a master’s degree in Corporate Finance and Accounting. Following this he did his training and professional exams with FCOS Ltd in Cork for 4 and a half years.
Guilty pleasure
Guinness and Taytos
Most likely to say
That sounds expensive
Learning and Development Lead
Biography
Pat joined Rowing Ireland as Club Support Officer in 2020. Pat has been a member of the Irish Championship committee for the last number of years. Pat is the current Chairperson of the Rowing Ireland Safety Advisory Committee and is a member of Rowing Ireland’s COVID–19 Working Group. Pat coaches with Castleconnell Boat Club, where he has been President for the last two years. Pat was also an assistant coach with the Ladies Homes sculling crews for the Homes Internationals when they were held at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. Pat is an ex-international basketball referee and worked with the Limerick Fire Service for 23 years, reaching the rank of Station Officer.
Guilty pleasure
Cadbury's Bournville
Most likely to say
That's Brilliant!
Strategic Business Development Executive
Biography
Derek has over 30 years of rowing experience and was a member of St. Michaels Rowing Club, Limerick for all of his competitive career. Derek won four Irish Championships at Junior and Senior level with St Michaels and has represented Ireland proudly at Junior, U23 and Senior levels bringing home seven medals. Derek has been coaching with Castleconnell since 2014. He brings 18 years of Supervisory Management experience, from his previous role as a Manufacturing Supervisor, to the role together with strong project management skills.
Guilty pleasure
Most likely to say
Get Rowing
Women in Sport Lead and pathways co ordinator
Ceara O'Connor
Biography
Ceara joined Rowing Ireland in 2020 as Events co-ordinator. Ceara has had a vast career as a coach and PE teacher prior to joining Rowing Ireland where she taught and coached in the Middle East, Australia and Prague.
Guilty pleasure
Most likely to say
Coffee?
Coach Education Coordinator
Gerry Farrell
Biography
Gerry started rowing as a junior in Neptune in 1975 and has been involved in the sport on and off ever since. He held the position of captain in both Neptune and Shannon. Gerry served on the Board of Rowing Ireland for 10 years and was Treasurer for four of those. He has a keen interest in club support and coach development.
Guilty pleasure
Chocolate
Most likely to say
I remember that
Events and Communications
Clara O'Brien
Biography
Clara has been involved in rowing for the past 11 years, rowing with Castleconnell Boat Club as a junior and University of Limerick Rowing Club through college. She has won a number of Irish Championships and competed internationally at Homes and U23 Europeans. Clara began working with Rowing Ireland in 2021 as the Limerick and Clare Coordinator for Get Going Get Rowing, gaining invaluable experience in event planning and management. This year Clara completed her undergrad in Maths and Statistics in UL.
Guilty pleasure
on the way !
Most likely to say
coming soon
Executive Assistant
Valerie Hely
Biography
Valerie previously worked with the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland and was an Executive Assistant in the Technology and Pharmaceutical industries for well over a decade. She also has a variety of event management and entertainment experience.
Guilty pleasure
Writing and recording music
Most likely to say
I'm a bit of an night owl
Commercial Executive
Lawrence Salonen
Biography
Larry has over 15 years of rowing experience as a cox, rower and coach, all with Neptune RC where he won three national championships as well as competing internationally at junior level. After a few years working in financial services, Larry completed a Masters in Sport Management in the University of Stirling, and then worked with Cycling Ireland for five years before moving into Corporate Health where he worked as an Account Manager and Business Operations Manager
Guilty pleasure
Most likely to say
100%
Sports Administrator
Margherita Pacini
Biography
Margherita has a background in Conference Interpreting and Translation, speaking Italian, French, English and Spanish. Her background as a softball athlete and her passion for sports led her to Ireland, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Sports Management from UCD in 2023. Margherita has always been involved in sports, volunteering and working in big events, such as the 2023 Fencing World Championships, where she supported the Organising Committee in several areas, namely Doping Control and Safety.
Guilty pleasure
Comparing supermarkets leaflets to find the best deals
Most likely to say
TRUE!
Communications and Events assistant
Emma Waters
Biography
Emma recently graduated with a degree in Global Sports Business from Rutgers University NJ. While at Rutgers Emma was part of the varsity rowing team which competed at the BIG10 and NCAA Championships, she was named on the BIG10 Varsity Rowing Team for 2023. She started rowing at the University of Galway while studying for her Bsc in Financial Mathematics and Economics, she has been successful in winning 6 National Championships with the Galway crew
Guilty pleasure
Horoscopes
Most likely to say
Awesome
Facilities Support Assistant
Tadhg Branagan
Biography
Tadhg completed his undergrad degree in Sports Management & Coaching from TUDublin in 2019. That year he moved to New York and took up a role as Games Development Officer with Rockland GAA. In 2020, Tadhg worked as a Sales Developer with Playr-Fit alongside studying a masters in Event Management from TU Dublin. He graduated from his masters in 2023. Tadhg comes from a predominantly GAA background and represented Leitrim Hurlers for a number of years.
Guilty pleasure
Country Music
Most likely to say
'Well, How's Things'
High performance team
High-Performance Director
Antonio Maurogiovanni
Biography
Antonio has been Rowing Ireland’s High-Performance Director since 2017 and, under his guidance, Ireland currently has four boats qualified for the 2020 Olympics. Antonio is a former Olympic rower, representing Italy at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. He has been involved in a total of seven Olympic Games, as an athlete and a coach. He previously coached in Italy, Australia and the Netherlands before coming on board with the Irish team.
Guilty pleasure
Seafood
Most likely to say
Be happy but not satisfied...yet
High-Performance Coach
Dominic Casey
Biography
Dominic coached the lightweight men’s double for the Rio Olympics on the afternoons after his day job. He was appointed Lightweight men’s and women’s coach by Rowing Ireland in December 2016. Dominic has overseen a golden era in Lightweight rowing since then, where multiple medals have been won at World Championships, World Cups and European Championships. Dominic was awarded FISA Coach of the year in 2018 to acknowledge his accomplishments and mark the success of Irish Rowing. In a previous life, Dominic rowed with Skibbereen Rowing Club where he won many Irish Championships in his favourite boats the single and double scull. Dominic also led Skibbereen Rowing Club for many years and built many good crews in that time to put Skibbereen with the highest number of Irish Rowing Championships in Ireland.
Guilty pleasure
A quiet walk
Most likely to say
Did you understand me ?
High-Performance Men's Head Coach
Fran Keane
Biography
Fran was appointed as the Senior Men’s Head Coach at the start of the 2021/22 season. Previous to this Fran was employed as The High Performance Operations Manager and Pathway Coordinator in 2019 having previously worked with many successful junior international teams since 2009, holding the position of Lead Junior Coach since 2017. Fran was responsible for leading the U23 and Junior teams as head coach and for developing a pathway from junior and U23 through to the senior team, while also assisting with the coaching of senior athletes based at the NRC. From an operations perspective Fran managed all logistical support and planning around the HP teams camps, trials and international events and was appointed team manager for the 2019 World Championships. Fran worked more extensively coaching with the senior team from 2020 and was appointed as one of the Olympic Coaches for Tokyo 2021. Post Tokyo, Fran was appointed as Senior Men’s Head Coach working towards Paris 2024. Previous to this, Fran was teaching in Presentation Brothers College, where he also held the role of Head Rowing Coach, overseeing the development of the schools rowing programme leading the school to a number of Irish Championships and supporting many athletes on the international pathway.
Guilty pleasure
The RTE weather forecast after the 9 o'clock news!
Most likely to say
OK
High-Performance Women's Head Coach
Giuseppe De Vita
Biography
Giuseppe has been a rower since a young age; he rowed for Italy from 1998 to 2013, representing Italy in two Olympics - Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. He coached UCD ladies and mens boat club from 2014 to 2018, when the club won medals and "pots" at national as well as international regattas. Since 2018 Giuseppe has been helping the development of HP Irish athletes, with a focus on the Sweep Senior Women Olympic team.
Guilty pleasure
Saturday's Pizza with Friends ... Arancini as starter, finishing with a Limoncello! but I cannot really say that I feel too guilty about it.
Most likely to say
Is this vegan?
High-Performance Para Coach
David Breen
Biography
David started rowing in 2012 with Lee Rowing Club in Cork. He went on to join UCC Rowing Club in 2017 and rowed with them from 2017-2021. During his time with UCC he was Club Captain from 2018-2020. David represented Ireland in the 2019 Home International Regatta in both the Senior Men’s Double and Quad. In 2021 he began coaching for UCC. David has a Bachelor's Degree in Nutritional Sciences from UCC and a Master's in Applied Sport and Exercise Nutrition from ATU Galway.
Guilty pleasure
Lough Rynn
Most likely to say
Lee RC is massive
High-Performance operations officer
Michael O'Rourke
Biography
Michael graduated from Waterford Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in Recreation and Sport Management before securing a Masters from LIT in Strength and Conditioning, Sport and Exercise. He joined Rowing Ireland in 2019 as the Aspire Graduate with the Sport Ireland Programme and was promoted to his current role in February of 2022. Throughout his time with Rowing Ireland he has worked as administrator, strength and conditioning and team manager for the Senior, U23 and Junior rowers and was part of the highly successful Tokyo Olympics team.
Guilty pleasure
Cycling
Most likely to say
Sound
High-Performance Men's Assistant Coach
Nicolo Maurogiovanni
Biography
Nicolo started rowing at around 14 years old in Perth, Australia. He commenced coaching part time in 2015 going through the local school, and Universities systems. In 2021 at the peak of covid he decided to leave Perth and his corporate career to move to Ireland for "an experience" and join the team as part of the Rowing Ireland scholarship program. One thing led to another and 3 years on Nicolo is a full time High Performance men's coach working on the men's side of the team, predominantly the men's sweep team. Notable coaching results the last three years have been a silver and bronze in the Under 23 men's four (2021,2022), and a bronze medal in the senior men's pair (2023).
Guilty pleasure
Going bush
Most likely to say
Yeah easy
High-Performance Women's Assistant Coach
Ashlee Rowe
Biography
As an athlete, Ashlee began rowing in 2008 in New Zealand and spent 5 years in Australia rowing at club and state levels. She decided to return to New Zealand to fulfill her dream of representing NZ on the international stage and spent over 7 years in the High-Performance system with NZ Rowing. Ashlee’s athletic career came to an end due to injury in 2021. She decided to pursue a Master's in Human Performance Science and became a full-time Strength and Conditioning coach while coaching rowing part-time. Now, as the Irish Women’s Heavyweight coach, Ashlee brings a wealth of knowledge to the coaching team through her experience as an athlete and her university studies
Guilty pleasure
Having subtitles on watching Netflix
Most likely to say
All good
High-Performance Coach
Leah O'Regan
Biography
Leah started rowing when she was 15 with Shandon Boat Club, began coxing at 16, and joined Team Ireland as a cox in 2019. Leah became part of the coaching team through the Rowing Ireland scholarship program in 2021 on a part time basis, while simultaneously pursuing her chemical engineering degree. In 2021, Leah coxed for the U23 team and coached her first crews at the Junior Worlds. Since then, she has been coaching the highly successful junior and U23 teams. In 2022, Leah assumed the role of Junior and U23 Pathway Coordinator.
Guilty pleasure
Midday naps
Most likely to say
Have you seen my keys?
