May 21, 2019
New partnership will provide support at a local and national level and to increase active national swimming participation levels
Tesco Ireland has today announced that it has secured a sporting title sponsorship of Swim Ireland, the National Governing Body (NGB) for swimming, water polo and diving in Ireland.
Under the new agreement, Tesco pledges to support Swim Ireland in providing as many ‘little helps’ as possible to the organisation, its athletes and their families, as well as aiming to increase active participation in swimming throughout the country through a number of joint initiatives which will be rolled out over the life of the partnership.
As the highest participation sport across the life cycle in Ireland* which is open to all ages, abilities, genders and lifestyles, swimming already has strong participation figures and is a prioritised sport in the National Sports Policy. With a shared value on health and wellness this partnership aims to encourage swimming as a gateway to achieving greater health and wellbeing.
Over the course of the partnership, Tesco and Swim Ireland will roll out programmes to drive even stronger levels of participation in communities around the country and seek to increase the number of people taking part in existing initiatives such as Get Ireland Swimming and Swim for a Mile and new initiatives including ‘National Swimming Day’ and ‘Support your team, wear your green’.
Tesco will also support Swim Ireland and its elite athletes on their journey to compete on the international stage. July will see a team of 13 Swim Ireland athletes, made up of 3 divers and 10 swimmers compete in the World Championships in South Korea, not only will they compete for world success, but the event will provide the athletes with their first opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Celebrating the new partnership, Clair O’Donnell, Head of Brand Activations, Tesco Ireland said; “We’re thrilled to secure this new partnership with Swim Ireland where we can work together to realise our shared mission to Get Ireland Swimming. Just like Swim Ireland, Tesco is at the heart of almost every community in Ireland so whether it’s learning to swim, helping athletes realise their potential or helping swimming clubs through our Community Fund; we’re delighted to help”.
Also speaking at the launch, Sarah Keane, CEO of Swim Ireland said “We are delighted to launch our partnership with Tesco Ireland today. Like Swim Ireland, they are committed to ensuring we continue to grow participation numbers and drive the sport of swimming across Ireland through our clubs, members and leisure swimmers. As a partnership, we’re committed to helping our athletes, our clubs and our communities to start swimming, get back to swimming and keep swimming through the life cycle.”
