| Philip Lawton | |
| Nickname: | Thaddeus |
| Birth Date: | 7 October 1977 |
| Birth Place: | Cork, Ireland |
| Weight: | 680NaN0 |
| Club: | Royal Irish Yacht Club |
| Coach: | Ross Killian |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Philip Lawton (born 7 October 1977) is an Irish former sailor, who specialized in the two-person dinghy (470) class.[1] Together with his partner and eventual three-time Olympian Gerald Owens, he was named one of the country's top sailors in the double-handed dinghy for the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing in a lowly sixteenth place.[2] A member of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Lawton trained for the Games under his personal coach and Owens' former partner from Athens 2004 Ross Killian.[3]
Lawton competed for the Irish sailing squad, as a 30-year-old crew member in the men's 470 class, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[4] [5] Building up to their Olympic selection, he and skipper Owens finished a satisfying fortieth to secure the last of the twenty quota places offered at the 2007 ISAF Worlds in Cascais, Portugal.[6] The Irish pair surprised the 29-boat fleet by rounding the top mark of the lighter-air second and fifth race, respectively, throughout the ten-leg regatta.[7] [8] [9] A series of substandard outcomes towards the final half, however, left both Lawton and Owens chasing the pack and never recovered, slipping them off the medal round to a lowly sixteenth overall with 129 net points.[2] [10]