She can't remember exactly which year she threw her stick and shin guards in a corner for good. Southampton and the British Universities had put a serious shape on her hockey background but childhood summers in West Cork, fluffing around in Mirrors, Toppers and Lasers were dormant memories waiting to germinate. She was in her 20s and had finished an MSc in Oceanography, and the chemistry was just right.

Later than most who begin the final leg of their journey to the Sydney Olympics this month, Maria Coleman left the collective comforts of the team for sailing and rekindled her love of the water. It came, in the end, more from a yearning than a calculated decision.

After she won the British University championship the people she had competed with each dutifully left to sail for England. Their parting shot to the Irish student was that she declare for Ireland.

Had their geography been sharp, they would have realised that her mother's county of Cavan was no sailing hotbed. But the family's move from the then-troubled border to Baltimore had drenched Coleman with the sailing tradition and she made her move.

"It was that I wanted to know everything about sailing and didn't want to play hockey anymore," she says. "I didn't have enough money, so after winning the universities championship I went to work on the Isle of Wight. I felt I could learn sailmaking and boatbuilding, understand a bit more."

By 1995 her competitive reputation was hardening. Her feet strapped into the single-handed Europe class boat, her growing expertise and fitness gave her the opportunity to win regattas, as the mysteries of the sport began to reveal themselves. She began to achieve gold fleet placings.

"I started going forward and just got better and better. Things clicked, my fitness got better and I started getting results."

A chance meeting with Denmark's Kristine Roug at the beginning of 1996 led to her being asked to become a training partner. Roug was one of the best in the world.

Coleman had already missed the trials for the Atlanta Games but having been invited to Savannah, watched while her friend competed and took home a gold medal. The relationship blossomed and the following year Ireland's Sydney hope was in Denmark seeking an Olympic ticket.

"They invited me over to train and I went. They've a 100-boat fleet there. We only have about 10 boats in Ireland and they only sail in the summer," she says.

Denmark has been her base now for five years. At 33 she knows that she has come to the top of the sport late. Now ranked in the top five in the world, her hope is that the combination of stress, opportunity, conditions, luck and talent could coalesce for one week.

"I'm fifth in the world in ranking at the moment. The difference is that the ones in front have been sailing longer than me. Some are younger and some are the same age but they've been in the boat in some cases for six or seven years longer.

"But over the years they have being staying level and I've been getting better and better. A medal is worth a shot but I know it will be really tough. It's a possibility . . . I'd be happy with a top-eight result."

Countless hurdles present themselves every day as legitimate reasons to give up. Juggling three boats and equipment is a hassle. One boat is in Australia, one is in shipment and the other is in Europe.

Masts, encased in Wavin piping for protection, go by plane stretched from the top to bottom corner of the hold with luggage stacked around them. Organise them, pay for them, then fret for their welfare. And it's a buying game. No Irish support boats and no expertise means all knowledge has to be bought, borrowed or worked for, although the Irish Sailing Association has bought boats to help the cause.

Last week Coleman again unhitched her wagon and made towards Denmark prior to moving down to the Southern Hemisphere. She is one of three Irish crews.

David O'Brien and Mark Mansfield will sail a Star boat with David Burrows in the Finn class.

On leaving, her thoughts were with Catherina McKiernan, who was forced to pull out of the Olympic marathon because of injury. With the same county roots and similarly coming from a large family, in Coleman's case of four brothers and two sisters, led to the sailor being conscious of the runner's pain. "I don't know whether it was Cavan or the big family but it must have been very disappointing for her to miss out," Coleman says.

Having stepped out of the shadows of former Olympian Aisling Bowman, Coleman knows that, like McKiernan, her world class credentials are assured. The Olympics provide the opportunity for more than that.