April 16, 2018
Swim Ireland’s team for their premier benchmark meet of 2018, the LEN European Championships in Glasgow will be spearheaded by 2017 World University Games Champion Shane Ryan and 2017 World Junior Champion Mona McSharry.
National Performance Director Jon Rudd has confirmed a selection of twelve athletes to the Irish team for the event in August of this year, following their first ever sole selection Trials period, simultaneously utilising the Irish Open in Dublin and the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast to finalise all of their summer National Teams. Swim Ireland’s Selection Policy for the European Championships allowed a junior element within the team to be added to the senior contingent for prospective development purposes and Rudd also states that relays are very much in mind with this selection alongside individual performance.
World Junior silver medallist Conor Ferguson secures his place alongside athletes making significant progress under the guidance of National Senior Team Head Coach Ben Higson, with Darragh Greene and Brendan Hyland both very much fitting this bill.
For the LEN European Junior Championships in Helsinki, a blend of individual and relay performance has again been considered with equal priority amongst the fifteen athletes selected, with Jack McMillan, Robert Powell and Niamh Coyne already displaying performances this season which will challenge the best in Europe when it comes to the event in July.
Ireland will also venture to the ISF World Schools Games Gymnasiade for the first time this year. The Morocco-based event will see a team of eight (seven of whom feature in of Ireland’s European Junior Championships team) travel to the competition as a tune up for Helsinki and gain vital multi-sport event experience as part of the opportunity.
Nominations to the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) have also been made for a powerful quartet of athletes to feature at the IOC World Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aries. McSharry, Coyne, McMillan and Powell will be considered by the OCI for selection ratification in the coming weeks.
National Performance Director Jon Rudd is very positive around the selections made and said, “We asked our athletes and coaches to step up and deliver performances in a sole Trials period and this selection is a culmination of that process. Both our season best and lifetime best performances at the Irish Open and the Commonwealth Games were impressive in allowing us to do this and now we can focus on this final cycle into the summer and deliver again in each athlete’s benchmark meet. The Olympic Games creep ever-closer and they will be on before we know it. So opportunities and challenges such as those before us this summer must be used wisely – for the moment itself and in preparation for Tokyo come the summer of 2020. We can both feel and see the progress and the summer of 2018 has to be the next stage for us in that sense.”
*The qualification period for divers for Summer Internationals will remain open to April 30th 2018 and as such the team will be announced at a later date.
April 16, 2018
| 2018 LEN European Championships (Glasgow, Scotland) Selections
| ||
| Athlete Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Calum Bain | University of Stirling | Brad Hay |
| Conor Ferguson | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Darragh Greene | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Brendan Hyland | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Niamh Kilgallen | Claremorris | Yvonne Morris & Padraic Kilgallen |
| Jack McMillan | Bangor | Paul Dennis |
| Mona McSharry | Marlins (Ballyshannon) | Grace Meade & Sinead Donagher |
| Alex Murphy | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Robert Powell | Athlone | Johnny Powell |
| Shane Ryan | Auburn University | Sergio Lopez |
| Jordan Sloan | Bangor | Paul Dennis |
| David Thompson | Bangor | Paul Dennis |
| 2018 LEN European Junior Championships (Helsinki, Finland) Selections
| ||
| Athlete Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Ellen Cassidy | Dolphin (Cork) | Mick McCormack |
| Victoria Catterson | Ards (Newtownards) | Davy Johnston |
| Niamh Coyne | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Maria Godden | Kilkenny | Mikey McCarthy |
| Paddy Johnston | Ards (Newtownards) | Davy Johnston |
| Amelia Kane | Ards (Newtownards) | Davy Johnston |
| Alfie Kelly | Newcastle | Ryan Livingstone |
| Julia Knox | Banbridge | Davy Wilson |
| Cadan McCarthy | National Centre (Limerick) | Emmet Crowley |
| Finn McGeever | National Centre (Limerick) | Emmet Crowley |
| Jack McMillan | Bangor | Paul Dennis |
| Robert Powell | Athlone | Johnny Powell |
| Rebecca Reid | Ards (Newtownards) | Davy Johnston |
| Naomi Trait | Kilkenny | Mikey McCarthy |
| Ellen Walshe | Templeogue | Brian Sweeney |
| 2018 ISF World Schools Games Gymnasiade (Casablanca, Morocco) Selections
| ||
| Athlete Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Niamh Coyne | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Maria Godden | Kilkenny | Mikey McCarthy |
| Cadan McCarthy | National Centre (Limerick) | Emmet Crowley |
| Jack McMillan | Bangor | Paul Dennis |
| Mona McSharry | Marlins (Ballyshannon) | Grace Meade & Sinead Donagher |
| Rebecca Reid | Ards (Newtownards) | Davy Johnston |
| Sean Scannell | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Ellen Walshe | Templeogue | Brian Sweeney |
| 2018 IOC World Youth Olympic Games (Buenos Aries, Argentina) Nominations
| ||
| Athlete Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Niamh Coyne | National Centre (Dublin) | Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg |
| Jack McMillan | Bangor | Paul Dennis |
| Mona McSharry | Marlins (Ballyshannon) | Grace Meade & Sinead Donagher |
| Robert Powell | Athlone | Johnny Powell |
