Institute of Sport Staff arrive in London

DR. ROD McLOUGHLIN

Director of Performance Services

Rod is responsible for overseeing the delivery of sports medical support systems at the Institute of Sport, with particular emphasis on rehabilitation and injury prevention.  He is also Medical Officer at the Olympic Council of Ireland. This has allowed him to introduce iZone, the Institute of Sport’s centralised electronic medical records system, to the Olympic medical team. The aim of the system is to improve the medical management of an athlete by enabling authorised medical staff to have access to an athlete's medical record and to communicate with one another while working both in Ireland and abroad. The system is accessible via the web to authorised users only so that the doctor or physiotherapist can have access to up-to-date medical information about the athlete. The system also allows users to message one another thus improving communication between the medical staff.

Rod hard at work in the Olympic Village

SARAH JANE McDONNELL

Head of Performance Rehabilitation

Sarah Jane is the lead physiotherapist at the Institute and is responsible for the delivery and coordination of physiotherapy and rehabilitation services. She has practised physiotherapy in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia before completing her masters in Sports Physiotherapy from the University of Queensland, Australia in 2004. Sarah Jane was part of medical staff for Team Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sarah Jane is also lead physiotherapist with Rowing Ireland, travelling extensively with the team for training camps and international regatta. She also works with Swim Ireland's High Performance Centre in Dublin. She is a trained Pilates instructor, has recently completed a Masters in Exercise Science in Strength and Conditioning and is also trained in the use of dry needling.

Sarah Jane, member of the 2008 and 2012 Team Ireland

Dr. SHARON MADIGAN

Performance Nutritionist

Sharon is the performance nutritionist at the Institute and is responsible for delivery and coordination of nutrition services for elite Irish athletes across a range of sports. Since 2003 she has worked as the performance nutritionist with the High Performance Boxing Team working with young developing boxers right up to our elite international team. An active interest in “weight category” sports means that she is now working with a number of other athletes in sports such as rowing and judo. From 2002-2009 Sharon helped deliver nutrition services at the Sports Institute Northern Ireland to a range of funded athletes. Part of this role included the provision of nutrition education to the Ulster Rugby Academy. From 2008-2011 she was the performance dietitian with the Senior Ulster Rugby Team and has been involved with a number of County and Club GAA teams over the last number of years including Down, Donegal, Derry (football and hurling) and the Dublin Hurling team.

Sharon and Boxing coach Billy Walsh arrive in London.

KEN LYNCH

Head of Talent Development

Ken joined the Institute in August 2008 from the Peter Snell Institute of Sport in New Zealand and is responsible for leading the Institute's work to support athletes successfully combine elite training and study. He established the Institute of Sport Athlete Support Programme to help create an environment where elite athletes can combine their international sporting career with their education in a way that allows them to achieve their potential in both fields. His background is in both education and high performance sport. Ken is a key member of the Athlete Performance Transition Programme support team and post-London will provide a personal planning service designed to help athletes reflect on where they are now, where they’d like to go next and most importantly how to get there. He will also be facilitating the Performance Transition Workshop Programme for athletes looking to move to a post-sport career or combine training with work or education. He travels to the Games as part of the Triathlon Ireland support team, who he has worked with closely since joining the Institute.

Ken and members of Triathlon Ireland prepare in London

KATE KIRBY

Sports Psychologist

Since 2006, Kate Kirby (PhD) has worked as an applied sport psychology consultant for elite teams and athletes. She will be travelling to the Olympics as the sport psychologist for sailing and modern pentathlon. She is also the current Irish Senior Women's hockey team psychologist and works with Team Ireland golfers. Kate also lectures in sport psychology in UCD and Dublin Business School, and her primary research interest is in the psychology of doping. Originally from Cork, Kate sailed for Ireland at junior level and has been involved in hockey for many years, playing at school, university and club levels. Kate is a member of the Institute’s sports psychology de-brief team and is supported by the Institute in her work with sailing, hockey and modern pentathlon.

Kate, sport psychologist to sailing and modern pentathlon.