Ciara Peelo Sailing

WHEN the Irish team was introduced at the extravagant opening ceremony of Beijing 2008, it was Ciara Peelo who had the honour of flagbearer. The Malahide woman competed in the Laser Radial class of sailing in Beijing. And now she’s preparing for a different challenge as she provides expert analysis on sailing events for RTÉ’s coverage this year.

‘Obviously carrying the flag at the opening ceremony was an amazing experience. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric,’ she says. ‘I didn’t realise the impact it had on other people I

‘Carrying the flag was an amazing experience’

knew; from people who had worked and supported me from the very beginning of my sailing journey to the people in my local community.

‘Years later I was renewing my passport and when getting the form signed at the local station, the guard told me how proud they all were in the station watching me walk out with the flag. I never would have expected that. But for me the Olympics is about competing. That was my primary focus. That’s what I went there to do.”

Ultimately, it was a disappointing journey home for Peelo, who didn’t manage to secure a medal, though she says she ‘can reflect on it a lot more positively now, ‘as time passes’. She tells Magazine: ‘Obviously I didn’t achieve what I wanted to, but quite a few years have passed now and I would definitely have a more positive view of my Olympic experience.’

Ciara decided to call time on her sailing career a couple of years after Beijing. Nursing a broken hand after a cycling accident and unable to train, she was free for the first time to join her friends in their normal activities. ‘And just naturally I thought, “you know

what, it’s a good time now to move on and do other things”. You kind of realise all the other things that are there that you could be doing as well. But at times I’d love to go back to sailing!’

She has high hopes for Rio silver-medallist Annalise Murphy in sailing — ‘she knows what it takes’ — and will be looking out for Sarah Torrans in the hockey and Eimear Lambe in the rowing; two past pupils of Loreto College in Rathfarnham, where Peelo teaches maths.