Family Freestylers fly the flag for Tipperary all over the world
Kearney family members concentrated on the sport of kayaking when Covid began
Three Clonmel siblings are experiencing astonishing success at a sport they all took up during Covid.
Cut off from other sports during Covid, Gilles, Henri, and Coline Kearney all took to the river they live beside in Knocklofty outside Clonmel and focused on the sport of kayaking.
Today (Wednesday June 10th) Gilles (17) and Henri (14) will start representing Ireland in the European Freestyle Kayaking Championships in Lieksa,Finland , and their sister Coline(13) will represent Ireland in Millau, France later this month in the World Championships.
Proximity to the river saw the three members of the Kearney family, who are all members of the South East Freestyle club in Clonmel, take full advantage of the river on their doorstep, as they were prevented from pursuing their everyday sporting involvement with clubs.
Gilles said he was playing football with Ardfinnan, hurling with Ballybacon/Grange, and rugby in school before Covid.
“I was interested in kayaking, but I was not doing a lot of it, but that changed when Covid came. There was not a lot to do, and we all went down with the boats to the river,” said Gilles.
“All other spots stopped during Covid, and I never went back to the GAA after that,” said Gilles.
He first represented Ireland in Austria when he took his chance after a more established member of the squad was injured.
“It is exciting to be going to Finland now to represent Ireland, and everybody on the panel is excited about the challenge,” said Gilles.
His brother Henri is another member of the five-man team, which is managed by Clogheen man Rory Kearney(no relation to the Kearney brothers).
Henri had represented Ireland in Germany and is also looking forward to competing on the same team in Finland.
“It is nice that we are both on the squad for Finland. I am looking forward to it, but I am a bit nervous as well,” said Henri, who also enjoyed playing football with Ardfinnan.
The brothers, accompanied by their family, flew out to Finland on June 4 for training with the Irish squad and the four-day competition begins today Wednesday, June 10. Over those four days, the brothers are guaranteed three rides each lasting 45 seconds, hoping to qualify for the later stages of the competition.
“The main focus is about being able to exert yourself as much as you can for the 45 seconds. Once you begin, it is high intensity, and you have to hold that for 45 seconds,” said Gilles.
Coline, a student in Rockwell College, like her two brothers, initially did not take to the sport when she tried it out at the beginning of Covid.
“When I started, I didn’t really like it, and it took a while before I started to enjoy it,” said Coline, who loved the challenge of training and competing with her older brothers.
“Last year I beat Henri in the Liffey descent,” said Coline, gently reminding her brothers of her competitive nature and her desire to compete at the highest level.
Coline went to Grange National School and plays hockey with Rockwell and with Clonmel Hockey Club.
Competing as a cadet last year in Germany Coline came third in the world.
“I was a bit disappointed with that, really, as I was doing very well and was hoping to do better. The river levels went low, so it is a different type of kayaking then, and that did not suit me,” said Coline.