Mike Corcoran, who is originally from Glasnevin, will watch Madison and Michaela (21) take part in the Irish canoe slalom team for the Paris Games.
The Corcoran twins were born in America, they grew up along the famous Potomac River in Maryland but declared for Ireland four years ago.
Their Dublin-born dad, Mike, represented Ireland in canoeing in two Olympics, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.
While Madison secured her place in the K1 class last October, Michaela’s spot in the C1 was only confirmed around a month ago through a late quota re-allocation.
Michaela thought her chance of joining her twin sister in Paris had gone but she got the news that a spot had opened up.
Their Dad Mike is extremely proud of his girls and can’t wait to see them compete.
“I’ve been to two Olympics before from an athlete point of view. Now I’m here as a spectator. I’m equally as excited because my kids are in it. They’re 21, this is hopefully their first of several Olympic experiences.
“They’ve been kayaking for a long time; they started doing it for fun and then it blossomed. They enjoyed racing as juniors and it went on from there.
“But I never coached them, we were just the parents, it’s easier when you’re not coaching your kid. If you are the coach, you know, kids don’t always agree with their parents.
“If you’re the coach, it can make things difficult. One of their coaches actually coached me when I was paddling.”
When he was just 16, he got hooked on canoe slalom after he bought a kayak. He trained hard, sharpened his skills and to prepare for the 1989 Canoe Slalom World Championships on Savage River, Maryland, Corcoran’s parents paid for a return airline ticket for him to go to Washington to train with the American team.
The transatlantic move, with £800 in his back-pocket, paid off in ways he never expected. He qualified for two Olympics, he finished 12th in Barcelona 1992 and 10th in Atlanta 1996.
Mr Corcoran moved to the United States a number of decades ago for canoeing purposes, and he originally intended to stay for just nine months. But it’s been 36 years since he left his family home on St Mobhi Road, Glasnevin at the age of 23.
Corcoran had secured a Donnelly visa in 1990 and decided it wasn’t too late for him to go to college. He studied history at George Mason University, Virginia and did a post-grad in prosthetics and orthotics at Northwestern University, Chicago. He worked on construction sites and at one stage did some work for the owner of a prosthetics clinic.
In Barcelona, he got to meet Michael Jordan and the dream team during the opening ceremony. Years later, he found himself in a lift with Jordan who was filming a Nike commercial on the college campus Corcoran was at in Chicago. Irish Mike is 6’7, American Mike was listed at 6’6.
Corcoran would go on to become a prosthetist specialising in hip disarticulation, hemipelvectomy and military prosthetics. In 2002, Corcoran and a colleague set up the Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was married to his American wife, Susie, and the twins were born in Texas where they lived for five years.
Corcoran’s centre became the sole “prosthetic provider for the US military.” An initial 90-day contract turned into 18+ years. Last year, he was asked to meet President Zelensky and was one of 12 individuals presented with a medal in recognition of their work to help Ukrainians.
“I moved to America specifically for paddling in Washington, it was the best place for canoe slalom for me at the time,” he said.
“The US team dominated on the scene and the opportunity to train with the guys on the US team was the reason I came here.
“I never intended to leave Dublin, I always intended to go to America for nine months because the World Championships were in Maryland in 89 and I went to train from October until the World Championships.
“After that I decided I’d like to stay longer, then I got a green card and said I’m going to go to college. Sport is only a very brief moment of your life, so I had to figure that out and try to find something to do workwise.
“I went to get my undergraduate degree and then I got my postgrad education in Chicago. Then I worked making artificial limbs, and I started a company in 2002.
“The nice thing is I have dual citizenship and then the girls do too. They made the switch to paddle for Ireland when they were still juniors.
“We would take them to Ireland every year from when they were babies. They spent time in Glasnevin, they’d go down to the shops, explore the Botanic Gardens. They do love Ireland.
“Michaela would like to do her postgrad education in Dublin. She hasn’t picked out a college yet, but I think that’s something that’s really intriguing her, that she’d like to live in Ireland for an extended period of time.”
Comparing Paris 2024 to his time in the Olympics, Corcoran believes that Team Ireland is stronger than ever, and he can’t wait to see what they achieve within the next number of weeks.
“I think Ireland is in the position to get more medals now than any other Olympics,” he said.
“It’s fantastic to see them on the team and it’s fantastic to see the Irish Olympic team has really grown. They’ve huge support behind them.
Canoeing is a sport that’s rising in Ireland too. The resources that Team Ireland has, and canoeing Ireland has been excellent.
“The family in Ireland are very much excited, it’s the second generation at the Olympics. With the girls competing for Ireland, they’re proud of that.”