Another first for Murphy

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD:YESTERDAY WAS all about achievement, nothing else. And the good news is that this is probably just the beginning. Still a teenager, Gráinne Murphy added another prize to her glittering collection of European medals when she won The Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year award.

In doing so she beat off what many commentators observed was the best array of talent since the awards were established in 2004.

During the award ceremony, attended by the Minister for Tourism Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin TD, Kieran Mulvey, chairman of the Irish Sports Council (ISC), also announced that despite a reduction in the Government funding to sport, the carding scheme that provides financial assistance for many of Ireland’s elite athletes looking towards the 2012 Olympic Games in London, will not be affected.

Picked out from a host of top Irish athletes that included world champion boxer Katie Taylor, Curtis Cup golfer Danielle McVeigh, European silver medal hurdler Derval O’Rourke and five -times All-Ireland football medal winner Valerie Mulcahy, the 17-year-old from Wexford hit a number of landmarks this season in the pool and single-handedly raised the reputation of Irish swimming on the world stage.

Now at school in Limerick to be close to the 50-metre pool at the University and her coach, Belgian Ronald Claes, Murphy swam into the silver medal position in the 1,500 metres freestyle at the senior European Championships in Budapest during the summer, before winning two bronze medals at the senior European Short Course Championships in Eindhoven last month.

While the 1,500 metres is not an Olympic event, Murphy’s consistently outstanding performances throughout the year has marked her out as a genuine medal prospect for the London Games.

Over the longer distance she is already ranked third in the Fina international rankings, her 16:02.29 time trailing just that of Australian Melisa Gorman and Danish world number one Friis Lotte. She is also ranked 11th in the world in the 800 metres freestyle.

“I’m delighted to be named the sportswoman of the year especially given the fantastic year that it’s been for all the Irish sportswomen,” she said after the ceremony in Dublin.

“It was an honour to even be included as a finalist with women such as Derval O’Rourke, Katie Taylor, Madeline Perry and Katie Walsh. I would like to congratulate all of the other finalists on their amazing successes that have brought us all here today.”

It was a truly difficult decision for the judges from The Irish Times, Evening Heraldand RTÉ to pick a winner with all the monthly winners having achieved remarkable success in their own right.

O’Rourke became only the second female athlete after Sonia O’Sullivan to have medalled at different European Championships, while the most famous athlete in Co Wicklow, Taylor, won her third successive World Amateur Boxing Championship this year in Barbados following her convincing 18-5 win over China’s Cheng Dong.

Continuing a record that will take many years to better, it was Taylor’s 100th win from 106 bouts since 2001.

The Bray lightweight, who is trained by her father Peter, was also chosen by the global governing body of the sport as the best female boxer in the world for a second successive year.

"The year 2010 has been without question the best ever for women's sport since these awards were established," said Irish Timeseditor, Geraldine Kennedy.

“We have seen some extraordinary achievements from a remarkable group of sportswomen. The best of Irish sporting talent has provided some of the sublime moments in 2010 that have gladdened the heart and lifted the nation’s spirits.

“And as everyone here appreciates, never have those moments been more needed.”

Murphy was a joint winner of the August monthly award along with Madeline Perry from squash, who had an exceptional summer with success in the Australian Open in Canberra.

“I’m sure the choice was tough because Derval had a good year and Katie too,” added Murphy. “My training has been working very well with my coach Ronald. All the facilities are there and I just take it day by day.”

While everyone was telling her there is much more to come at World Championships and Olympic level, Murphy wasn’t having any of it.

“I haven’t really looked that far ahead,” she said. “I really am just taking it one day at a time. I’ve got the World Championships in Shanghai and I’ll just see how they go and then kind of take it from there.”

Between now and then Murphy has the Leaving Certificate to contend with as well as her strict training regime. Those exams will begin in May while the World Championships take place in July.

Jessica Harrington, one of the top dual horse trainers in Ireland and associated with many high-profile winners since the 1990s, won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony.

Established six years ago by The Irish Timesand the Sports Council, the aim of the awards is to recognise the abilities and achievements of women in Irish sports.