The new high performance director of Rowing Ireland will be Antonio Maurogiovanni, a 51-year-old Italian who has been based in Australia. On August 1st, he will take up the role left vacant by the Morten Espersen's resignation earlier this year.
Maurogiovanni was the Australia under-23 coach in 2015 and 2016. From 2001 to 2009 he was head coach at the Western Australia Institute of Sport. He has also coached in the Netherlands and in Italy.
He competed at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic games as a rower and has had a coaching role in the seven Games since then.
He has also worked with Fisa, the world governing body of rowing, to develop the sport, and has had a long association with Thor Nilsen, a long-time mentor for Irish rowing. This was a factor in his being seen as a good fit for the Ireland job.
Hamish Adams, the chief executive of Rowing Ireland, said: "We have been through an extremely robust and intensive recruitment process to source the best possible candidate for this demanding role. As a professional coach with a background in sport science and vast Olympic experience Antonio is an exceptional candidate and we are delighted to welcome him to our team."
Maurogiovanni said rowing has been his passion and made up much of his life. “It has taken me from Italy to Australia to the Netherlands and back to Australia and now to Ireland. I look forward to applying the experience and knowledge I have acquired over the years and using it to the best of my ability to bring success in Ireland.”
Espersen, who led Ireland to its first Olympic medal as a HPD from 2013 to 2016, announced that he would resign earlier this year. The Dane was not happy with the role played by the High Performance Committee of Rowing Ireland.
