Gentle nudge from father led to American twins representing Ireland

Mike Corcoran, father of Irish Olympians Madison and Michaela Corcoran, represented Ireland at two Olympic Games. 

Michaela Corcoran, left, who competes Tuesday with her identical twin sister Madison ahead of the Games. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

ONE of the more durable American brands to succeed in Ireland over the years are those famous little sugar-shelled M&Ms.

The letters M are in recognition of two executives of the world’s more iconic confectionary companies who came up with the idea in the first place. Forrest Mars saw people eating ‘smarties’ during a visit to Spain in the 1930s and teamed up with Bruce Murrie of the Hershey chocolate empire to produce the sweets that Madison and Michaela Corcoran would undoubtedly describe as ‘candy’.

The 21-year-old identical twin sisters, originally from Maryland, were both selected on the Irish canoeing team for Paris and may in time emerge as the latest ‘double M’ brand to originate in America and succeed in this country. Their story is both old and new in Ireland, beginning with an emigration and continuing with a happy reunion.

The sisters were chosen to compete in different disciplines at Paris. Madison took part in the K1 class (legs out in front, paddle with a double blade) on Saturday, but didn’t come through from her heat. Michaela, who only found out she was going when a slot unexpectedly opened up for Ireland just weeks before the games, competes in the C1 (one paddle, held at the top, athlete kneels) today.

Their father, Mike Corcoran, paddled for Ireland in the 1992 Barcelona games and again at Atlanta four years later. He had unlucky passages in both appearances but he was still good enough to be ranked five in the world in his sport at one stage.

From Glasnevin in North Dublin, he moved to the States in 1990 and following years of emigrant elbow grease, built a highly successful prosthetics business and set up home — unsurprisingly, on the banks of the Potomac River near Washington. The water that remains a second lifeblood to the Corcoran family.

“It was at age five when the two of us were first in a kayak,” remembers Madison, describing their earliest encounters with their sport. “We’d just go along on the back of Dad’s boat and have some fun in the river. We weren’t super orientated in sport back then but then we went to a summer camp when we were about 10 and started working with our first coach.

“It became an after-school sport at first but then through the years we got more and more into it.”

Mike Corcoran stands 6’7” in his bare feet and which didn’t leave much room in his boat for his daughters, but his enthusiasm, support and advice proved a key determinant in their developing careers.

Madison continues: “We did have advantages by being in the boat so early. A feeling for the water is much harder to learn later. Having that feeling at a young age, how to lean into the boat, is an advantage later.”

Her sister expands: “I’m not sure it was a genetic advantage but always having Dad around to give us advice when we weren’t training with our coach was important. Everybody has a different perspective on how to paddle and having more input from both our coach and our dad was helpful.”

Their high school was at Holton Arms whose mission statement includes to ‘graduate students that are self-confident, socially adept and globally fluent.’

THEY must be doing something right. When not preparing for the Olympic games, Madison Corcoran is studying psychology at Vanderbilt University while her sister is reading biochemistry at the University of Miami, both on academic programmes.

Other Holton alumnae include Christine le Garde (IMF) and the Seinfeld actor Julia Louis Dreyfus who also stars in Veep, a far-fetched sitcom where a hapless and largely ignored American vice-president unexpectedly finds herself in the top job.

It was around the time of their high-school graduation that the sisters realised that their opportunities in kayaking ran deeper than they might first have thought.

Madison: “We had spent some summers in Europe but when I went to the first junior games that I qualified for and ended up making the final, finishing sixth, which was quite a shocker because I hadn’t realised just how well I could canoe.”

Michaela: “I think for me it was quite different. I think I found my level in the sport a lot later. During high-school I always enjoyed doing it, being out in nature and stuff, but was never sure where I wanted to take it. But then during covid we began to train more regularly and I progressed faster and learned to love it. Loved the process, loved working towards something.”

Their switch from the American to the Irish team came in 2020, not without a gentle nudge from Mike.

“Our dad said there was an opportunity to switch,” explains Madison. “During competitions I’d always been around the Irish squad and already knew our team pretty well. We got encouragement from people around us to make the switch. Growing up we were always proud of the Irish connection; it was always there.”

Michaela adds: “The deciding factor for me was that all the guys were just really friendly, really lovely on the team and the people at Canoeing Ireland were just so keen to help. In the US, everybody was all spread out and the Irish team just had a different sense of community. I always loved going there and was always asking Dad if we could move there.”

So, what are the attributes they need to bring a couple of medals first back to Ireland and then on to the banks of the Potomac? Michaela, a minute older than her sister, responds a minute faster.

“I certainly struggled with my mindset in the last few years but I think I have learned the importance of perseverance,” Michaela says. “I think you see this with a lot of top athletes, the perfect run is never a perfect run, it’s about how you deal with mistakes, how you deal with bad water, how you solve things and not get caught up in all the bother.”

Although they compete alone in their boats, the canoeing M&Ms are looking forward to savouring the full-on team experience of their Paris adventure, running the course bank yelling encouragement to Irish colleagues, relishing the prospect of sharing their Olympic games experience with their closest friend and soulmate.

“In the past four years we’ve been together on a lot of training camps, sharing rooms,” says Michaela, “and we’ve grown even closer than childhood. We know how each other are feeling and it’s nice to have someone who recognises your emotions, someone who can help you when you need help.”