Irish Mum fights flying fear for Olympian Gearóid
13/08/2004 - 2:54:26 PM
One Irish mother has conquered her greatest fear today so she could see her son battle it out for an Olympic gold medal in Athens.
Carmel Towey, from Kilworth, Co Cork, mother of rower Gearóid, is terrified of flying but was determined not to miss out on seeing her son take part in his third Olympic Games.
She overcame her flying phobia today when she jetted out to the ancient city, along with her husband Jerry, her son David and his wife, Niamh, her sister-in-law Annette O’Connor and members of Fermoy Rowing Club.
Her other son, Martin, and daughter Janette will stay at home.
This is the first time she will be there to watch her son compete in the Olympics.
Gearóid’s father Jerry was in Sydney in 2000 when he flew the flag for Ireland in the rowing event.
Carmel chose to stay at home, due to her fear of flying, and had to settle for watching her son compete on TV. This time around she wanted to be closer to the action.
“This has always been his big dream. My husband was there with him in Sydney but I watched on TV. I hate flying. But it will be nice to be there this time. He can only do his best and please God they will do well.”
The reunion will be a special one as the family have not seen Gearóid in a while.
“I last saw him in early June. He has been training in Sweden and then Croatia. We are in constant contact though, texting is great. We got a message from him today wishing us a safe trip.”
Gearóid and his rowing partner Sam Lynch from Limerick will take to the waters against a team from the US on Sunday morning at 7.30am.
Locals in Fermoy have pasted posters of good luck for the Cork athlete all over Kilworth and Fermoy.
Over the next 16 days, Gearóid, will be among more than 10,500 athletes from more than 200 countries who will be battling it out for gold medals in 28 different sports at 35 venues across Athens.
The sporting event was due to get underway today, amid the highest security level ever for an Olympic Games.
A 70,000 strong security force, including soldiers carrying machine guns and armed police with dogs, were on stand by.
The opening event was due to get underway at 6.30pm and run until 10pm. It will be televised on Network 2.
More than 77,000 spectators will be in the stadium to witness the event first-hand, having paid up to €1,500 for the privilege. A further four billion TV viewers are also expected to tune in.
RTÉ’s Bill O’Herlihy will present live coverage of the Opening Ceremony from Athens on Network 2 from 6.30pm.
The ceremony will be of particular interest to Ireland, as Cork man Dr Martin Barrett has played a huge role in the preparations for the event.
He is the Envisaging Director of the Olympic Games, which means he is responsible for creating the vision behind the opening and closing ceremonies.
As Sam and Gearóid take to the waters, Monkstown man Billy Twomey will be taking to the sky.
Billy, who will act as a reserve for the Irish Equestrian Team, flies out to the Games on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Munster athletes Robert Heffernan from Togher who will take part in the 20km walk and Cobh woman Sonia O’Sullivan who will participate in the 5,000m race, will come under the spotlight next Friday, August 20.
On the same day, Cork’s Mark Mansfield will take to his boat to show his sailing skills.
The other Munster athletes, including Derval O’Rourke, Gillian O’Sullivan, Mark Carroll, Olive Loughnane and Maria Coleman, will all participate during the second week of the Games.
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