Olympic hopeful Keller wins Laser Nationals on home water

Ashling Keller made her home club Lough Derg Yacht Club very proud by winning the Laser National Championships in Dromineer last week.

Over 4 days sailing, she won six out of the nine races.

Con Murphy, International Race Officer had a challenging time getting nine races in over the four days, with Saturday having to be cancelled due to lack of wind.

Keller, from Nenagh, came to sailing on the lake through the schools programme started by Liam Maloney, then headmaster of Carrig NS. She has risen through the ranks very quickly, as did her brother Eoin who also won this event in 2011.

Ashling who hopes to compete in the Olympics Games in Tokyo in 2020 and is heading to the Japanese capital city next week to take part in the World Cup, followed by Olympic week also at the same venue. She is a carded athlete for 2018 as a result of winning the under 21 European Championships, and hopes to retain her funding in 2019.