Skibbereen rower Aisling Hayes (35) will make her international debut this week
Aisling Hayes has never taken the easy route – and that’s what makes her rowing story so compelling. Born in Westmeath, she swapped England for the rowing stronghold of Skibbereen, chasing a dream that now becomes reality as she prepares for her Irish debut at this week’s European Rowing Championships.
In 2022, Hayes left her life in England to join Skibbereen Rowing Club. She felt Ireland’s greatest rowing club was the right fit and the best place to help her find faster speeds on the water. That move has been vindicated: Hayes is now part of the Rowing Ireland squad as the Olympic cycle for the 2028 Los Angeles Games begins.
‘The stars have aligned,’ she says.
‘I don’t want to use the word relief, but I took a risk and now I have this opportunity,’ Hayes adds. She will race in the Irish women’s quad at the Europeans in Plovdiv, Bulgaria that start this Thursday.
‘It shows that all the hard work does eventually pay off – I have dedicated so much time and made various sacrifices along the way. This has proven it was worth it, to do all that to get the chance to represent Ireland.
‘Even to wear the Irish colours will feel like I have achieved something, but I want to perform well – I’m not there to tick a box, I want to be as fast as I possibly can.’
Hayes’ story is not conventional. The 35-year-old was a late starter in rowing – she was 26 before she picked up an oar, so this gives her a different perspective. She has the maturity and clarity to appreciate her big opportunity.
‘This is the beginning of my now or never, in terms of the Olympic cycle,’ she says.
I was late to rowing so I don’t have many years to mess around with.
‘For me, it’s extremely significant that I have got on this team now and that I can show that I deserve to be here and that I can perform,’ adds Hayes, who won the women’s intermediate single scull at the 2024 Irish Rowing Championships.
There is another twist to this tale – Hayes spent over three months in Sydney this year, from January through to the second week of April, staying with her sister Helena as she chased faster speeds on the water.
The Skibb rower competed with Sydney University Boat Club, and made such an impression, including winning the singles and doubles at the Rowing NSW Small Boats Regatta, she was invited to stay. The temptation was there, but the desire to prove herself at home was stronger.
‘I went to Sydney to race in a different country against different people, and to get more experience in the single. I knew I needed to get more racing under my belt – and I think it is after improving my racing style,’ Hayes explains.
‘I had opportunities to stay in Australia and they were coaxing me to stay but really I wanted to give trialling a go here because I want to represent Ireland – that is one of the goals.
‘I had to trial and prove myself, and in a post-Olympic year there are always more opportunities because the whole programme resets and they want to get a squad together that will feed into the next cycle.’
There was reassurance, too, from two familiar faces from Skibbereen Rowing Club, Dominic Casey and Denise Walsh, who are key figures in the Rowing Ireland coaching set-up. Hayes landed back in Ireland in April, impressed at the trials, won her place in the Irish women’s quad alongside Alison Bergin, Natalie Long and Claire Feerick, and this week will compete at the Europeans. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks. Hayes is excited and apprehensive, but determined to grab the opportunity she’s worked so hard for.
Her supporters’ clubs in Dunmanway (where her dad Jeremiah is from, and where she lives now with her grandfather, also Jeremiah) and Skibbereen will cheer her on this week, two important towns in Hayes’ rowing story that proves it’s never too late to chase the dream.
