Exciting future lies ahead for Dublin Sprint thanks to HP Coaching Support

Jeremy Lyons and Gerard O’Donnell make up two thirds of the coaching system at the renowned Dublin Sprint group.

The pair have worked in tandem together with Aideen Sinnott for the last number of years to develop their High Performance training group into what it is today.

It all started fifteen years ago in the “dark corners” of Morton Stadium when Jeremy was asked to step into coaching. He took the plunge, not knowing what to expect and hasn’t looked back since.

“I was with Clonliffe at the time and the late Joe Cooper had a few sprinters that he needed a coach for, so he asked me to coach them,” Jeremy says.

“I was still competing when I started coaching a few of them and it built from there.”

Jeremy describes it as an “organic” development over a few years with the group slowly growing. Carrick-on-Shannon native O’Donnell came into the group in 2014 to train and his impact was quickly felt.

He became a leader, gradually taking ownership of things, developing structures around warm-ups before he became an official part of the coaching ticket less than five years ago.

“In 2019 Jeremy brought me out for a coffee and decided he wanted to bring me in to fill some of the gaps that I was probably doing already but not in a formal way,” Gerard explains.

“It was easier for me to be recognised as a coach because when I wasn't I was getting frustrated with people not doing what I thought they needed to be doing.

“They were less likely to listen to me when I was just their peer. Not that we're superior as coaches but there's a bit of authority involved.”

While Dublin Sprint was initially a one man show, Jeremy is glad to have added the additional expertise as the years have gone on.

“I think as you get more experienced as a coach you realise what you're good at, what you're not good at and where the gaps need to be filled,” he says.

“There's things that I'm good at and there's things that I'm not good at so I knew where I needed to get help.

“As a coach over the years I've learned to keep it simple, keep it basic, have a high level strategic direction of what you want to do and then just tweak around with the week to week or the day to day training.”

Jeremy and Gerard insist that they don’t “spoon feed” their athletes and are keen for them to take responsibility. This helps to add to the fantastic camaraderie in the group which includes high profile athletes such as Sophie Becker, Cillin Greene and Jack Raftery who have all made names for themselves on the international scene in recent years. Despite having household names they do welcome newcomers to the group.

“We're a high performance group but that doesn't mean we only accept athletes that are going to the Olympics,” Gerard stresses.

“Athletes who are as far from the Olympics as I am are as welcome as anybody else once they fit the personality type and the mould of the group.

“We know by now who will work well with our personalities, that's the most important thing. With an athlete of any level we'll know if they'll fit in well.

“It's not the athletes with the top PB's sometimes that actually lead the group in terms of attitude, personality, and discipline.”

Both men have had numerous highlights in their coaching careers. Jeremy cites Brandon Arrey becoming the first member of the new Irish community to represent the country at a major championships (European Indoors 2015) as one of his saying that he “broke a trail” for those who have followed.

Gerard picks a more recent example when seven out of the group’s eight athletes who competed at the Belfast Irish Milers Club meet came away with PB’s in May 2021.

“I don't know if I've ever seen a day like that,” he laughs.

“We may never actually see a day like that again. There's rare days where you're happy for everyone in your group and where everyone that's competing that weekend, wherever they are in the world, is happy.

“That was just a magic day.”

Jeremy and Gerard have recently been announced as some of a number of Athletics Ireland High Performance Support Coaches for 2023. They are already seeing the benefit of this funding with Lyons describing it as “massively welcome.”

“It allows us to add things to training environment that we might have been adding anyway but it may now not be coming out of our own pocket,” he says.

“Even recently it's allowed us to kind of plan and budget to the point where for the first time we're bringing our own soft tissue support expert to our warm weather training in Portugal. That's going to be of huge benefit to the athletes.

“You're also feeling that you are being appreciated. It's good to get that acknowledgment and support from the governing body.”

The group are looking forward to a massive summer ahead with European Team Championships, European U20 Championships, European U23 Championships, and a World Championships all looming on the horizon.

“Hopefully we will be well represented at all those competitions and have finalists ideally at all of them as well,” Gerard says.

“We’re even thinking then of the following year,” Jeremy adds.

“You do now as an athlete, with the world ranking system, have to be thinking eighteen months out.

“We have fifteen month plan to be ready for the following year and hopefully getting athletes as individuals and on teams to the Paris Olympics as well.”

Exciting times lie ahead for one of Ireland’s top training groups.

See Athletics Ireland High-Performance Support Coaches HERE

Follow @dublin_sprint on Twitter & Instagram

- Rory Cassidy

• Emmett Dunleavy Piece HERE