Noel and his twin brother Robert (who were born on a Christmas Eve) were fourth in a C2 double at the 2015 World Junior Championships but both flourished individually. They actually both clinched nation qualifying spots for Paris at the 2023 World Championships but Robert lost out to Liam Jegou in the subsequent Irish trials. Noel was in London 2012 to watch his current coach compete and his big breakthrough was ninth in European U23s in 2018. He came agonisingly close to Olympic qualification for Tokyo, only beaten for the last available place by one spot when he finished 13th nation at 2021 Europeans. He was 28th at the European Games in 2023, and clinched his Olympic place by finishing 16th place at the 2023 Worlds. Noel has a degree in software engineering from Maynooth University and a Masters in artificial intelligence from DCU. He spent a year training full-time in Pau, France in 2021 but is now based at home between his extensive travelling for training and competition.