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Olympian and World Champion Puspure appointed UCC Head Rowing Coach
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University College Cork is delighted to confirm the appointment of two-time World Champion and three-time Olympian Sanita Puspure as UCC Sport’s new head coach for rowing.
Ms Puspure - a World Champion in the single skulls in 2018 and 2019 - is a Level 3 qualified rowing coach and recently completed a Degree in Sport Science and Conditioning with Setanta College.
The appointment has been made possible thanks to the support of Bank of Ireland.
UCC Rowing Club has in the region of 220 registered members for 2021/22 across novice, intermediate, club and senior crews – both male and female.
It has won National Championship events and boasts several Olympians as current members including gold medal winner Paul O’Donovan, Bronze medal winner Emily Hegarty, and rowers who were part of Team Ireland in the Tokyo games such as Ronan Byrne, Aoife Casey, Margaret Cremen, Lydia Heaphy and Tara Hanlon.
The club also has several international rowers such as club captain Hugh Sutton, John Kearney, Alex Byrne, and Will Ronayne who have competed at Junior, U23, and Senior Level for Ireland.
Martin Kilbane and David Breen will work closely with Sanita to develop the new crop of rowers who are just starting out on their journey wearing the “Skull & Bones” and who aspire to be Ireland’s next Olympians.
Commenting on her appointment, Ms Puspure said:
“I'm very excited to accept this role as a rowing head coach in UCC and I'm looking forward to sharing all my knowledge and skills with all the athletes and helping them to reach their goals in sport.''
Morgan Buckley, Director of Sport and Physical Activity in UCC, said;
“We extend a warm welcome to Sanita joining our team of coaches in UCC and bring her drive, passion and expertise to work with our very successful rowing programme. We are very grateful for the ongoing support of Bank of Ireland who make an amazing contribution to our sports programme in UCC, including supporting teams sports scholarship and coaching.”
Ian Mc Morrough – Director Area South Bank of Ireland, said:
“Bank of Ireland is proud to partner with UCC on its prestigious sports programme and we congratulate both Sanita and the Rowing Club on this fantastic appointment. Attracting world class leadership and talent is critical to success in both business and sport and we wish Sanita and her team the very best of luck into the future.”
Hugh Sutton, Captain UCC Rowing Club, said:
"I am hugely excited to have Sanita join the club as head coach. I feel Sanita is going to be a great match with the club as she understands the needs of modern student-athletes and sees the potential in the club as it turns an exciting page in its development".
Wayne Falvey. Marketing & Quality Manager at the Mardyke Arena UCC said:
“The Mardyke Arena UCC are delighted to continue our support of all UCC Clubs through our world class facilities, programmes and staff. We wish Sanita the very best of luck in her new role, as Head Coach of UCC Rowing, and we look forward to working with her.”