Rowing Ireland’s Chief Executive Officer, Michelle Carpenter has been appointed to the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s Executive Committee.
Michelle was one of four new members that were voted on to the Executive Committee by delegates from sporting organisations who cast their votes before the EGM on Tuesday night.
As a result of these elections, the Executive Committee achieved full gender balance.
Michelle has a lifelong involvement in Rowing a native of Limerick, Michelle was one of the first registered female rowing members of Shannon Rowing Club, rowing in their first winning women’s championship crew of 1988. Michelle then went on to be part of the Junior and U23 Irish squads and rowed for Commercial Rowing Club and DULBC Boat club from 1990-1994
On the administrative side, she has worked with the World Rowing development team on the Olympic Values Education programme. Closer to home she was the driving force behind the successful Get Going Get Rowing initiative in schools around Ireland which in 2019 saw 32,000 participants engage with the programme.
In 2017 she was selected by World Rowing to be a participant at the IOC Women in Leadership Forum in Lausanne.
Michelle Carpenter was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Rowing Ireland in May 2018. Under Michelle’s leadership, Rowing Ireland has developed significantly, with an increase in clubs and members annually. Sponsorship and funding has also increased year on year since 2018. Rowing Ireland has also expanded its staff across High-Performance and Core with specialised roles for Club Support, Women In Sport. Rowing Ireland also has an office in Sports HQ in Dublin as well as the National Rowing Centre in Cork.
Michelle said, “I am proud to be elected to the OFI Executive Committee. It is an honour to be able to represent our sport on this Committee. I want to thank our President, Eamon Colclough and the Board of Rowing Ireland for nominating me for this position.
I am excited to work with Sarah and board at the OFI as we head into unknown times in 2021 with Tokyo whilst also focusing on Paris 2024. The OFI has made dramatic inroads in governance and structure over the last number of years and I am honoured to be chosen to represent Irish Olympic sports around the strategic table.
My experience of sport administration, coupled with the experience and skills I have gained in other roles, provides me with an alternative perspective on the challenges and opportunities that we are presented with. Despite our recent success in rowing, we experience many of the same challenges that we always have as a small NGB. By having a common voice and working together, we will be stronger and our opinions will be heard and I am looking forward to the four years ahead.”
The full Executive Committee:
| President |
| Sarah Keane (uncontested – nominated by Swimming) |
| First Vice President |
| Colm Barrington (uncontested – nominated by Sailing) |
| Second Vice President |
| Robert Norwood (uncontested – nominated by Snowsports) |
| Honorary General Secretary |
| Sarah O’Shea (uncontested – nominated by Badminton) |
| New Members of the Executive Committee Listed in alphabetical order by surname |
| Moira Aston (nominated by Canoeing) |
| Michelle Carpenter (nominated by Rowing) |
| Georgina Drum (nominated by Athletics) |
| Ciaran Gallagher (nominated by Gymnastics) |
| Linda Morgan (nominated by Boxing) |
| PJ Nolan (nominated by Cycling) |
| Lochlann Walsh (nominated by Triathlon) |
Read more: https://olympics.ie/historic-first-for-ofi-with-fully-gender-balanced-board/
