“If she can’t see it, she can’t be it”
The new slogan for the 20×20 campaign which aims to increase participation, media coverage and audience attendance for women in sport by 20% by 2020. With that in mind, here are some of DCU’s top-class athletes breaking the glass-ceiling one competition at a time
Nadia Power, 21, Athletics (800m/1500m)
Photo credit: Twitter @irishathletics
Practice makes perfect for 800m/1500m running athlete Nadia Power who commits herself to training eight times a week – six days training and two gym sessions and one rest day – which helped her make a mark in the World Youth Championship in 2018 where she achieved a personal best in the massively prestigious competition. For younger athletes, the Saucony Ambassador offers her advice for staying motivated to succeed: “Stick with it! You will appreciate sport so much when you are older as it gives you such a sense of purpose and it’s such a positive thing to always have goals in mind that you are aiming for.”
Aoife Lynch, 19, Athletics (100m/200m).
Photo Credit: Facebook – Aoife O’Brien
Competing internationally is important, but home is where the heart is for Donore Harriers athlete Aoife Lynch, who says her club has been majorly influential in her success as a sportswoman.
“There have been some huge breakthroughs for Irish teams of various sports in the past year alone, pushing Female sport into the spotlight. On a personal level, my club have never failed to bring huge recognition to my sporting achievements no matter how small they may be!”
Having contested at an international level on the Senior Women’s 4x100m Irish Relay squad, the Mechatronic Engineering student hopes to obtain a spot on the Irish team travelling to the European U23’s Athletics Championships in Gavle, Sweden in July.
“The best part is the feeling of success after running the best race you possibly can; whether it be a national title or simply a new personal best.”
Elizabeth Morland, 20, Athletics.
Photo Credit: Twitter- @elizabeth_m191
The sky’s the limit for multi-event athlete Elizabeth Morland who was just fifteen when she won her first Heptathlon.
With many junior and senior titles under her belt, the Education and Training student plans to compete in the Olympic games. Digital-detoxing is one attribute to her road to success and she says: “Before any competition I compete in, I tend to go through what I can and cannot control. I know I can only control what I can do to perform at my best, but I can’t control what the others in the competition do, so why worry. It helps me focus and relax during a competition, and that’s when I compete at my best. I also tend to delete social media during big competitions. It allows me to fully focus on the competition and ignore everything else.”
Sarah Rowe, 23, Football/ Aussie Rules.
Photo Credit: Tom Beary/INPHO
Past-DCU student and Mayo football star, Sarah Rowe is also making serious waves Down Under in Aussie Rules as number 7 for Collingwood Women’s AFL team. Multi-talented Rowe is also one of the main 20×20 Ambassadors, “an all-inclusive movement to shift Ireland’s cultural perspectives to shift Ireland’s cultural perception of women’s sport by 2020”.
The future is bright for the appreciation and recognition of women in sport, with a drive for increased media coverage and investment, there is no doubt these DCU women will pave the way to the best standard Irish sport can offer.