Horse Sport Ireland’s Eventing High Performance Director Sally Corscadden has announced the updated Tokyo longlist squad and Tokyo 2020 potential squad for this year’s Olympic Games.
The list includes Aoife Clark, Galway’s Cathal Daniels, Sarah Ennis, Padraig McCarthy, Brian Morrison, Joseph Murphy, Austin O’Connor, Camilla Speirs and Sam Watson.
The Tokyo 2020 Potential Squad list includes Susie Berry, Aidan Keogh, Esib Power and Fred Scala.
Speaking about the announcement, Sally Corscadden said:
“While 2020 was a very challenging year in so many unexpected ways, we have managed to keep developing our squad for Tokyo and I am very happy to announce our longlist of horse and rider combinations. We are lucky to have strength and depth with five former Olympians and of course the World Equestrian Games Silver Medal winning team to give us great experience and to help drive the new members of the squad.
“Due to the delay to Tokyo, family commitments and the difficulty of travel with Covid restrictions, Ian Woodhead has taken the decision to step away from the Irish Eventing Team. It was a difficult decision for Ian, as he had built such a strong relationship with all the squad riders, and had a huge influence on the improvement in their performance in competition. The Irish were taken seriously at Dressage thanks to the changes and belief that Ian introduced. He was a great team member and contributed in more ways than Dressage to our success of winning the Team Silver at the World Games in Tryon. As the Performance Director, I would personally like to thank him on behalf of all the squad for his inspiration and support, and while Ian is stepping away he has assured us that once things settle down we can look forward to him being back coaching in Ireland.
“We are however, in the lucky position of bringing the very successful and experienced, former Team GB Eventing Dressage Trainer, Tracie Robinson on board, and she is already working with the squad and building her own plans to take us forward.
“2021 is going to be an exciting year, with the possibility of a Senior European Championships along with the Olympics. The focus is very much on our preparations now, so we can hit the ground running when the time comes. Of course, all this is not possible without the support of our loyal owners, management team, Eventing Ireland and sponsors, and we aim to make them proud of our performances and deliver success on the world stage for Team Ireland.”
Irish Eventing Dressage Coach Tracie Robinson said; ‘I am very pleased to be taking on the role of Dressage Coach to the Irish Eventing Team, I am very excited to be part of this Team and I look forward to a positive future.”
