McClenaghan on a Mission
Rhys McClenaghan speaks about his journey to World Championships gold and his mission to capture gold in the City of Love in 2024
by Aoife Cassidy for Inside Gymnastics
Monday morning means one thing for Rhys McClengahan: a two-hour trip from his home in Northern Ireland to the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin where he has trained since the closure of his gym in Northern Ireland in 2018. On this particular Monday morning, I caught up with the 2022 World Pommel Horse Champion as he sat in his car ahead of a busy week of training. McClenaghan talked about his 2022 season, his plans for Paris and his thoughts on being from Northern Ireland amongst a multitude of other things.
Once upon a time this particular trip would have been a somewhat perilous journey filled with army checkpoints and a sense of trepidation. Thankfully, almost 25 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, this journey is now a safe and rather uneventful experience.
McClenaghan’s homeplace of Northern Ireland is somewhat of an unusual phenomenon borne out of years of conflict, violence and clashes of religion and politics. Some people describe it as a country in its own right, others as a province or a region. And some people within the borders of this small piece of land at the top of the island of Ireland would describe themselves as British whilst some would describe themselves as Irish. Following years of intense conflict and a history dating back longer than the scope of this article, the signing of the Good Friday agreement in 1998 saw the end to the violence and a multitude of constitutional changes which brought peace to Northern Ireland for the first time in many years.
Against this backdrop, in 1999 Rhys McClenaghan was born into a new age for Northern Ireland. Speaking on this matter, Rhys believes that he is in quite a privileged position. Rather than experiencing the conflict himself, he has had to learn about it. He recognises that growing up, the people around him did have to experience the violence and so feels strongly about educating himself on the history of his homeplace. However, whilst he recognises that where you come from will always be a part of your identity and will shape who you are, your experiences in life also play a part and your identity and sense of self is something that is constantly changing.
Speaking with wisdom far beyond his years, McClenaghan also spoke about the decision to represent the Republic of Ireland in competition
“It almost wasn’t a decision,” says 23 year-old McClenaghan. “Gymnastics Ireland and Ireland as a country were always supporting me, so it was a ‘no brainer’ to represent the Republic of Ireland rather than Great Britain, a decision that is open to all citizens of Northern Ireland when competing in sport. ”
His decision to represent Ireland is something that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the sport in the country of Ireland and help inspire younger generations. However, speaking on this matter, McClenaghan also believes that the true key to future success and growing the sport lies in the education of coaches. He notes that his coach played a pivotal role in his career and his upbringing in general. “Coaching is a career move and should be treated as such’. ‘It is not just something to do to get a pay check.”
He has given much thought to the matter and each time, has come back to the importance of the education of coaches and believes ultimately this is the key to the longevity of the sport in the country.
And would he like to use his expertise to coach future stars? “100%,” says McClenaghan. “It would be such a shame to throw away a lifetime of knowledge of the sport… I look forward to the day where I can have my own generation of kids.”
But for now, he is solely focused on making his career everything he dreamt of as a child. Looking forward to the 2023 season, he says he is looking to build on the momentum from the 2022 World Championships and build on his current Pommel Horse routine. McClenaghan’s 2022 season saw him struggle initially in the early months of the year, falling at several major events including the 2022 European Championships in Munich. Following this, McClenaghan along with coach, Luke Carson decided to revert back to an old routine to ensure consistency in competition. This change spelt success for McClenaghan as he was able to hit his routines in competition and win on the big stage for the remainder of 2022.
Speaking on the switch, McClenaghan said he felt relief when he made the decision. He says that he and Carson decided to take a different approach to the routine and stick with skills that had the same difficulty value but a lower executional risk. As is the case with Pommel Horse, Rhys points out that once one skill goes wrong, it is like a domino effect and the routine can fall apart very easily.
However, for 2023, McClenaghan is looking to expand on this routine and has hinted that he is working on some upgrades. Fresh from a silver medal at the 2023 Doha and Baku World Cups , he will skip the final leg of the series in Cairo. Probably for the best as last years trip to Cairo saw him lose his luggage and have to train with borrowed equipment. An experience Rhys documented on his YouTube channel where you can see all of the behind the scenes antics of the major competitions and the daily grind of training. Speaking on the Challenge Cup circuit he says he really enjoys the series and the fact there is some leverage with it now as event specialists like him need to compete there to qualify for the World Championships.
🚨 Rhys McClenaghan masterclass 🚨
The world champion with a 𝟏𝟒.𝟗𝟔𝟔!
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