Welcome to the September edition of the Swim Ireland Newsletter! We've had a fantastic start to the 2018/19 Season with our Masters to the fore at the European Championships in Slovenia, the Water Polo season kicked off, we announced our 2018/19 National Swimming and Diving squads earlier this month as well as a team of 4 for World Youth Olympics and 5 for World SC Championships and we delivered a number of Club Children's Officer Forums across the regions.
In October we're looking forward to a fantastic Women in Sport Conference, the 2018 Irish Open Diving Championships and we'll be launching our Club Captains in Youth Sport Programme. We also look ahead to the 2018 Swim Ireland Awards where we'll be celebrating 125 Years of the organisation!
Click through to look back on a busy opening month and what's to come for the rest of 2018.
Swim Ireland's #WePlay Inspiring Girls in Sport Conference returns for the second time on October 20th at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus.
The Conference is open to girls and women from ALL SPORTS of ALL AGES and will see sportswomen and professionals from a range of sports come together for a day of learning, fun and inspiration!
This Conference will involve key note speeches and panel discussions, inspiring girls and women involved in sport across Ireland. Prominent Irish female athletes including Ellen Keane, Phil Healy (Athletics), Aoife Murray (Camogie) and Hannah Matthews (Hockey) will take to the stage to discuss their experiences, motivations and advice on our panel discussions focused around Body Image & Lifestyle and how your sport can benefit you as we explore the theme Strong is the New Pretty. We also have a number of talks dedicated to athletes over 25 to coincide with the day including workshops on fueling for sport and injury prevention and recovery.
2018 Swim Ireland Awards
Swim Ireland's 2018 Awards take place on Saturday 24th November at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon, hosted by Swim Ireland President Maggie Purcell. We are delighted to be celebrating 125 Years of Swim Ireland on the night, a huge milestone for our organisation.
Tickets are on sale NOW, so make sure to come along and celebrate a fantastic 2017/18 season with our athletes, clubs. volunteers and members! Further information and tickets availableHERE.
Affiliation
We are now well into the affiliation process for the 2018-19 season and clubs are focused and pushing ahead with this. The club affiliation workshops delivered in all regions were very well attended and provided club administrators with the support they needed to easily get through the process. A gentle reminder to all clubs regarding the key dates for this year. 14th October 2018 – 2017-18 Club Memberships will expire
15th October 2018 – Affiliation Deadline (Clubs/Members not registered by this date will not be valid members of Swim Ireland and therefore not covered by insurance and will be excluded from events run under the auspices of Swim Ireland)
1st January 2019 – Teacher and Coach Licensing will be mandatory for all Teachers and Coaches operating in Swim Ireland Clubs.
For more information please contact you Regional Club Support Officer -Contact details Teacher and Coach Licensing
A reminder to all teachers and coaches working in Swim Ireland clubs that there has been a change to the teacher and coach licensing process
Key changes are as follows:
Licence will be valid for 1 year
CPD points across all levels of licence will be 6 points within the 12 months prior to application/renewal
Licences can be obtained directly through the membership system and licence cards can be printed direct from your online profile
From the 1st of January 2019 to be covered under the Swim Ireland insurance cover, ALL coaches and teachers are required to hold a valid licence to operate in a Swim Ireland club.
Accreditation passes for national competitions will only be granted to coaches who hold a valid licence.
The 2018 World Youth Olympic Games will get underway this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Olympic Federation of Ireland have selected three swimmers - Robbie Powell, Niamh Coyne and Mona McSharry and for the first time on a WYOG Team we have a diver after Tanya Watson qualified at the World Junior Championships in July. Swimming gets underway on October 7th with Niamh and Mona in the 50m Breaststroke while Tanya takes to the Platform on October 13th and will dive in the Mixed International Team Event on the 17th.
National Squads 2018/19
Following the completion of the 2017-2018 season summer benchmark meets, Swim Ireland have announced our National Squad cohort for the 2018-2019 season, with 6 athletes receiving membership through a Tokyo 2020 perspective and 28 athletes gaining a place through a Paris 2024 identification. check out the full list of athletesHERE.
World SC Championships Team Selected
Swim Ireland have selected five athletes to attend the 2018 FINA World Championships (25m) in Hangzhou, China in December. Congratulations to the five, their coaches and clubs.
Name
Programme
Niamh
Coyne
National Centre (Dublin)
Conor
Ferguson
National Centre (Dublin)
Darragh
Greene
National Centre (Dublin)
Brendan
Hyland
National Centre (Dublin)
Shane
Ryan
Virginia Tech
Irish Masters Make a Splash in Slovenia
Irish swimmers brought home a total of 14 medals for the European Masters Championships in Slovenia early in September. The tally of 8 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals came from both the pool and open water events with a number of Irish Records also broken across the week, Dymphna Morris lead the group of 40 swimmers amassing a fantastic 5 Gold Medals!
The 2018 Irish Open Diving Championships will take place at the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin from October 26th - 28th. Ireland's best divers as well as over 250 divers from all across Europe will compete across the three days of competition. Featuring for Ireland will be Rio 2016 Olympian Oliver Dingley and European Championships Finalist and World Youth Olympic Games Diver Tanya Watson.
Level 1 Coaching Diving (Blended)
Blended Assistant Diving Coach 02-Nov NAC, Dublin Successful completion of the Assistant Diving coach qualification will prepare you to deliver pre-prepared session plans. Be responsible for up to 6 athletes whilst under the supervision of a qualified level 2 Diving Coach. Demonstrate an understanding of basic coaching skills, diving specific coaching skills, coach and athlete development and good practice in coaching ethics. It will tool you with a basic understanding of technical elements of diving.
We are delighted to welcome 130 Club Captains who have taken part in our most recent project – Club Captains in Youth Sport. We had over 33 clubs involved in the programme and are looking forward to rolling this out in our regions and clubs. Click HERE for details of the programme and contact the Youth Department if you have any questions.
During September we held five Club Children’s Officer Forums attended by CCOs from 56 clubs around the country. We completed the Designated Liaison Person training as well as covering youth engagement, training updates and discussed changes to certain roles on the committee. The CCOs attending were fabulous in their open discussions and exploration of issues – plus it was a great networking opportunity for new CCOs. Each CCO also received a CCO polo shirt plus a goody bag; so look out for your CCO in their new shirt! We are looking forward to the next round in January/February with a full agenda already!
Education courses currently available for bookings in October and early November viaGoMembership Events.
We have the following Level 1 & Level 2 courses running in October and early November. Level 1 Blended Assistant Swimming Teacher Blended Assistant Swimming Teacher 19-OctGym Plus, Swords Blended Assistant Swimming Teacher 23-OctWaves Leisure Centre, Lurgan Blended Assistant Swimming Teacher 26-Oct Aurora, Bangor Level 1 Standard Assistant Swimming Coach
Standard Assistant Swimming Coach 21-Oct Leisureland, Galway Level 1 Blended Assistant Water Polo Coach
Blended Assistant Water Polo Coach 19-Oct NAC, Dublin Level 1 Blended Assistant Diving Coach
Blended Assistant Diving Coach 02-Nov NAC, Dublin Level 2 Swimming Teacher
Swimming Teacher 05-Oct Mayfield Sports Complex, Cork Swimming Teacher 13-Oct Graiguecullen Pool, Carlow Swimming Teacher 20-Oct Gym Plus, Swords Level 2 Swimming Coach
Swimming Coach 26-Oct Mayfield Sports Complex, Cork
Officials Pathway
If you wish to volunteer at swimming competitions, while also increasing your swimming knowledge, starting your journey on the official’s pathway may give you the opportunity you are looking for. For more information please contact education to find your nearest course.
Fixtures & Results
The 2018/19 Water Polo season kicked off on Sunday 9th September with a round of the girls and boys under 16 league matches in the NAC. Preparation is under way for the first big cup of the season, the annual Under 19 Cup will take place in the University of Limerick on 23rd - 25th November 2018.
All upcoming fixtures and results can be found here.
Committee News
The committee have welcomed a new Leinster Representative this month with Colin Morrissey from Half Moon WPC taking up the post. Aveen Colvin is another new addition to the team as the new Water Polo Administrator. Aveen’s role will focus on Water Polo Education and the National Team structure.
Upcoming Courses
Table Officials Course – Irish Sport HQ - 14th October 2018 (TBC)
Blended Learning Level 1 Assistant Water Polo Coach – Irish Sports HQ - 19th October 2018
Recognition of Prior Learning - Level 2 Water Polo – Irish Sports HQ – Exam 25th October 2018 + Practical 4th November 2018
Recognition of Prior Learning - Level 2 Water Polo - Grove Wellbeing Centre – Exam 22nd October + Practical 9th November
Parents in Sport Week, 1st - 7th October, Nationwide
World Youth Olympic Games - 6th - 17th October, Buenos Aires, Argentina
#WePlay Inspiring Girls in Sport Conference - 20th October, National Sports Campus, Dublin
Irish Open Diving Championships, 26th - 28th October, National Aquatic Centre, Dublin
Swim Ireland Annual Awards - 24th November, Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, Co. Clare
Irish Short Course National Championships - 6th - 9th December, Lisburn, Co. Down
Christmas Cracker Gala - 16th December, National Aquatic Centre, Dublin
