MEET: Annalise Murphy, Ireland’s Sailing Golden Girl

Annalise Murphy is a 26-year-old full-time sailor from south county Dublin, who competed in the London Olympic Games back in 2012, in which she claimed fourth place, and is now back again to claim her rightful title in Rio De Janeiro. 

Daughter of Olympic sailor, Cathy McAleavey, sailing runs in the family, and the Dún Laoghaire sailor is, this year, keen for gold.

A typical day's training for Annalise can vary anywhere from a full day's cycle around the Dublin Mountains, strength and conditioning workouts and naturally, on the water sessions in her home club of the National Yacht Club.

While that, paired with her sensational success and determination, may come across incredibly daunting, Annalise is actually pretty sound at the end of the day. She even felt seasick while training the other day, and is planning on spending her rest day panning out in bed.

Seasick @Annalise_Murphy enjoying Rio experience https://t.co/0xtivQjV4X

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 10, 2016

With six of her 10 scheduled races completed, Annalise finished fifth and second respectively in her two races on Wednesday, grasping the overall lead with both hands.

However, competition is tight. Murphy is one point ahead of Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom with the Netherlands in third place. Each competitor is allowed to drop their worst finish when calculating their net score, meaning the pressure is lifted a little bit, as you can drop your worst and keep up the best. 

With four races left before the medal race on Monday (which WILL, thankfully, be shown on Irish television) tensions are high as the top 10 sailors go head-to-head going for gold, with double points available in the next few races.

While all the races leading up to this won't be televised in Ireland, you can keep up-to-date with Annalise's training, successes and journey on her Facebook page, run by friends and family in Rio. 

Best of luck Annalise!

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