SARAH KEANE

 

Sarah Keane is the President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland and CEO of Swim Ireland. She has been the highest-profile woman in sports administration in Ireland for more than a decade and has been ever-present on this list through its ten years of publication.

This year she is launching a new National Strategy for swimming, the public consultation of which drew 6,000 responses, preparing for Paris 2024 as the biggest Olympics for European performers and sporting bodies since the high of London 2012, and continuing the quest for equality as a leading figure within the European and International Olympic movements.

She was a key player in saving the reputation of the Olympic ideal in Ireland after the trauma of scandal and repercussions arising out of Rio six years ago, and of swimming as it faced its own dark days of abuse scandals before that.

Launching a pop-up pool may seem a little light after those but she is always looking forward and remains one of the most influential players in the game, regardless of gender.

 

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This is the tenth edition of our Sport for Business listing of 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport.

Read more about the list and nominate who you think should be a part of it in 2022.

We are proud to do so again this year with AIG, an organisation that has pledged its commitment to equality in its partnerships with Gaelic Games, Tennis, Golf and more, for whom “Effort is Equal” and with whom we have ambitious plans to extend the reach of this annual celebration of the Women who are making a difference.

This year’s list will be drawn as before from the worlds of leadership, partnership, storytelling and performance.

We began this journey in 2013 when challenged that we would never be able to produce a list of twenty Influential Women in Irish Sport. The 20 stretched to 30, then 40 and 50 and it still does not do justice to the talent that is out there.

This year once more, to keep things fresh we will introduce at least 30 per cent of fresh names from last year. That will be the hardest part to have some names replaced but if it was too easy it would be of less value.

The list we will build over the coming weeks is a snapshot of those women who are making a mark on how sport is played, consumed, grown and delivered.

They are part of making the role of women in sport unexceptional by being exceptional in what they do.