Tony O’Connor competed in the men’s lightweight coxless four at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, finishing 4th in the A final in one of the most significant performances in the history of Irish Olympic rowing – narrowly missing the bronze medal in the event’s Olympic debut.

Born in London but reared in Limerick, O’Connor received his rowing education at Crescent College and Shannon Rowing Club before his finishing school at the Neptune Club in Dublin, where he trained under coach John Holland and developed the winning mentality the club was known for.

He and Neville Maxwell formed a formidable partnership in lightweight pairs events from 1994 onwards, winning in Duisburg and Paris (the latter in a world record time of 6:26.0 for 2000m) and winning a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championships in Indianapolis. Alongside Maxwell, Lynch and Holland, the Irish crew qualified for Atlanta with a spectacular victory at the Lucerne pre-Olympic regatta.

At the Games, the crew led at 500m before slipping back to fourth at 1000m; a position they held through 1500m, just 0.6 seconds behind the bronze medal USA crew. In what Sam Lynch described as a race in which ‘there was suddenly honey in my veins’, the Irish crew were unable to produce their customary storming finish and crossed the line 1.22 seconds behind the bronze medallists – at the time, the highest placing achieved by an Irish crew in Olympic rowing.

He went on to compete at the Sydney Games where the men’s lightweight coxless fours finished O’Connor won World Championship gold in the lightweight coxless pair with Gearóid Towey in Lucerne in 2001.