Swimmers Announced for World Short Course Championships

National Squads Announced for 2018/19

September 17, 2018

Swim Ireland have selected five athletes to attend the 2018 FINA World Championships (25m) in Hangzhou, China: 

The team will see four of the highest achieving athletes from Ireland’s successful 2018 European Championships team in Glasgow as well their highest achieving athlete from the 2018 European Junior Championships in Helsinki. National Senior Team Coach Ben Higson will lead the team into China, with four of the five athletes under his direct care and attention in the National Centre (Dublin)

September 17, 2018

Staff additions and changes are afoot within the National Centre (Dublin) with Assistant Coach Matt Coward joining Ben Higson, Steven Beckerleg and Beth Carson on deck from October, whilst Mantas Ruikis joins the team as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach and sports science consultant from this month. 

National Performance Director Jon Rudd said, “The small but targeted team that we have travelling into the World Short Course Championships is one which has been selected on each athlete’s current Olympic qualification profile and the journey east will in itself serve as excellent preparation for when Tokyo comes around. The athletes that the Olympic Federation announced on Saturday following our nominations are also four of the best young prospects that we have and they will certainly be part of the mix once it’s game time in Argentina next month. We are also excited about a 36-strong National Squad, as our qualification times for this evolve as we progress to within 2 years of the Tokyo Games and to within 6 years of the Paris Games. To have so many athletes remaining on track and moving into the Squad for the first time is a great sign for the nation’s swimming as a whole. And in terms of the National Centre in Dublin, both Matt and Mantas will add extra depth to our delivery in this key Centre on a day to day basis as we move ever closer to Tokyo”