Early gym sessions, hours on the water, and detailed team briefings with their coach. We got an inside look at what a typical day involves for 49erFX sailors Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour as they chase their LA 2028 Olympic dream. Our team recently headed to Irish Sailing Performance HQ in Dún Laoghaire to spend a day with the Northern Ireland pair and get a real sense of what life looks like for two athletes with the Los Angeles Games firmly in their sights.
The day began in the gym at the Irish Sailing performance space, where Erin and Ellen were deep into a training session focused on power and muscular endurance. The programme included push press, deadlifts, and a strong emphasis on push movements throughout. As Erin explained, the balance between push and pull movements is deliberate and important.
“We do a lot of push movements to prevent any muscular imbalances and injuries. We mostly do pull movements on the boat, pulling in from the trapeze wire, so we almost always finish our session with either chin ups, pull ups or lat pulldowns.”
The pair train in the gym three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, complementing that work with a significant amount of cycling. The 49erFX demands a very specific type of fitness, heavily focused on upper body strength. Every session begins with an intensive warm-up to raise the heart rate and protect against injury before the main block of work begins.
“We don’t do any hiking so we don’t need as much leg strength as ILCA sailors would. We need a lot more upper body, we pull ourselves under the boat a lot more. But strengthening the full body is not going to do any harm. And preventing injuries is something we really need to focus on, especially when we are crossing the boat. We have to get quite low.”
After the gym, we headed down to the water where Erin and Ellen rigged their 49erFX, the brand new boat they collected from Ovington Boats in England earlier this summer before heading straight to the European Championships in Eckernforde, Germany. It was here, with their hands on the boat, that the reality of what they are working towards truly hit home. The first LA 2028 qualification event is just one year away, and every session on the water counts.
Following their time on the water, the day finished with coffee before a meeting with their coach to go through team briefings and review the session. It was a reminder that for athletes at this level, the work never really stops.
Erin and Ellen are aiming to make history as the first Northern Ireland women’s team to qualify for the 49erFX spot at an Olympic Games. As Erin put it: “We are incredibly proud to be pushing for that spot. The first qualification event is this time next year and we would love to have as many people behind us as possible. If you are in a position to donate, please visit our GoFundMe page. And if you are not able to donate, please share the page, it makes a huge difference.”
Every donation and every share brings them one step closer to Los Angeles. Their determination, daily discipline, and passion for the sport make Erin and Ellen a team well worth getting behind as they pursue their Olympic dream.
