It was one of those months when any one of six or seven women could have won our award - Mona McSharry helped herself to a silver and two bronze at swimming's European Championships; Zoe Hyde won gold and silver in the women's and mixed double sculls at the rowing's World Championships, with Fiona Murtagh taking silver in the single sculls; Rhasidat Adeleke won European 200m silver, and Cork (camogie) and Galway (Gaelic football) produced All-Ireland final performances to remember.

The only relief for the beleaguered judges in all of this was that Kate O'Connor, our European heptathlon gold medallist, was already on our 2026 roll of honour, so she was excluded from the August shortlist. 

In the end, Ellen Walshe (swimming) and Margaret Cremen (rowing) were our joint winners. Walshe produced scintillating displays en route to two gold medals at swimming's European Championships, while Cremen won gold in the double sculls with Hyde at the World Rowing Championships and silver with Konan Pazzaia in the mixed double sculls.