Cora McNaughton receives the Active South Dublin Sports Star of the Month for January from Thos McDermott, Head of Active South Dublin, David Kennedy, editor, The Echo and Bryan Malone, Sales and Marketing Manager, The Plaza Hotel
January Sports Star of the Month is Cora McNaughton
OLD Bawn native Cora McNaughton has been named Active South Dublin’s Sports Star of the month for January following two impressive top 10 finishes at the World Youth Sailing Championships in 2025.
The competition took place in December and sees the top echelon of young sailors from across the world compete, these can be world champions, continental and national level champions.
Partnered with Matt Mapplebeck from Cork, the duo represented Ireland at the event in Vilamoura, Portugal and finished with an overall position of 23, securing a top 10 finish in two separate races.
The event provided both sailors valuable experience of competing at the elite level and has given them a taste of what future competitions will be like should they continue to operate at the highest of levels.
McNaughton spoke of her plans for 2026 including switching to a new type of boat ahead of upcoming competitions.
“I hope to transition to the 49erfx which is the Olympic class sailboat. That’ll be tricky because you need a lot more fitness and strength and I’ll also need a new partner as it will be an all female boat. Hopefully I can transition just before summer and then by the end of summer I can be in a nice routine just before college starts.”
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