Paralympics Ireland are delighted to announce the promotion of two female members of staff on International Women’s Day 2024. Both Hayley Burke and Sarah Hurley have taken up new leadership roles within the Para Swimming department of Paralympics Ireland.
Hayley Burke will be moving to a new role as Para Swimming Head Coach. Her wealth of experience extends over three Paralympic Games along with multiple World and European Championships.
She has a long history with the Para Swimming team and Paralympics Ireland since joining the staff as Para Swimming Manager in 2015. She was a coach for the Para Swimming Team that represented Ireland at the Paralympic Games in London 2012 and was directly responsible for the preparation of the Irish team that competed at the Paralympic Games in Rio. After guiding the team to medal success in Tokyo, she will be hoping that their preparations will emulate and eclipse that success in Paris this summer.
Hayley said; “It’s a fantastic opportunity, not only for me but for para swimming to secure a full time national coach position. I have been involved with this high-performance program since 2011 and witnessed it grow from strength to strength; being a part of it has been a privilege and now to support driving it on further on the world stage is an opportunity I relish.”
Speaking about Hayley’s promotion, Para Swimming Performance Director, Dave Malone said; “Hayley brings world class expertise to the role having worked in the High Performance system over the past three Paralympic cycles. Hayley is well placed to drive the performance standards within Para swimming and support the athletes into the Paris games and onto LA28.”
Hayley holds a MA in Sport Management a level 3 coaching license and is also a qualified Swim Ireland Tutor.
The second promotion is that of Sarah Hurley to Para Swimming Manager.
Sarah joined the Performance Operations team in Paralympics Ireland in December 2020 through the Sport Ireland ASPIRE Graduate Programme and played an essential operational role for Team Ireland in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Sarah said; “I am delighted to receive this promotion and continue my journey with Paralympics Ireland through Paris 2024 and beyond. The Para Swimming team has always had great success on the world stage, and I am proud to have been a part of that story since joining in 2020. I’m looking forward to our continued success to come.”
Speaking about Sarah’s promotion, Para Swimming Performance Director, Dave Malone said “I am delighted with Sarah’s appointment to Para Swimming Manager. Sarah brings a depth of experience managing teams over the past number of years and we’re looking forward to supporting her in her role as team manager for the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024.”
