Newsletter #2
Vol. 2017

2017 Season Off To A Fast Start

Swimmers up for training will be the first to notice as the days get longer and the evenings begin to stretch - soon no more eating breakfast in the dark. The 2017 competition season is now well underway and if the Swim Ulster International/Dave McCullagh Memorial is anything to go by then the rest of the year is sure to be an exciting one. This month has also seen a massive step taken for Irish Sport as Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane is elected as President of the OCI. We also catch up with some of the stories happening elsewhere in our "Out Of The Water" segment.

Out of the Water

Looking at stories affecting our sport and development
#SwimForAMile - Sign Up Now For #SwimForAMile 2017!
#Water Polo - Latest Developments And upcoming Events
#Competition - Selection Policies and Irish Open Information

#IrishSport - Sarah Keane Elected President Of The OCI

Irish sport has taken a massive step forward with the news that Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane has been elected as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI). Sarah was elected at the EGM of the OCI which took place in the Conrad Hotel, Dublin on Thursday 9th February. Speaking after the election result Keane commented "I feel humbled and privileged to have been elected as President of the OCI. I am grateful for the support and confidence shown to me by the Olympic Sports Federation and I look forward to working with them and the newly elected officers and Executive Committee Members to reform and rebuild the OCI after what has been a very difficult few months for the Olympic movement in Ireland.

Sarah Keane concluded her address by taking the opportunity to thank Willie O'Brien and all the members of the outgoing committee and to wish them well. To read Sarah's full statement see our Swim Ireland website. Read more....

#SUDMC17 - Records Fall As Jon Rudd Begins New NPD Role

Irish swimmers took to the pool at the 2017 Swim Ulster International/Dave McCullagh Memorial for what was the first National competition of 2017. The Dave McCullagh meet which also incorporates the Swim Ulster International took place at the Aurora Leisure Complex in County Down. Over 350 swimmers from 55 clubs competed in 32 individual and 6 team events from Friday 3rd February to Sunday 5th.

The Dave McCullagh saw Ireland's senior swimmers look for the opportunity to qualify for the 2017 World Swimming Championships being held in Budapest in July as well as the 2017 World University games in Taipei starting in August. There was some excellent talent on display in the form of Rio 2016 Olympian Nicholas Quinn along with Irish senior record holders Brendan Hyland, Conor Ferguson, Shauna O'Brien and Danielle Hill with a host of British swimmers including Rio 2016 medallists Duncan Scott and Dan Wallace adding to the excitement. For a full list of results and reports from the 2017 Dave McCullagh Memorial see our Swim Ireland website. Read more...

The competition also marked the start of the new National Performance Director John Rudd's tenure at Swim Ireland following his appointment in November "I am excited to be starting (at long last) and even more so that I will have the opportunity to see the Nation race and meet the coaches on deck across the three days of the competition". You can see a full report on Jon's appointment by clicking here.

#HighPerformance - John Watson Appointed Head Of Performance Support

Swim Ireland are delighted to announce the appointment of our new performance team member John Watson who will take up the role of Head of Performance Support and Strength and Conditioning practitioner. This role is totally new for the organisation and is a further demonstration of the particular emphasis on the holistic development of the athlete which is the keystone of the new Swim Ireland performance strategy.

Watson will take on the role in April and is looking forward to working with Irish swimmers "I am excited to be taking on a position with Swim Ireland which will allow me to utilise my experience and drive to maximise the performance of Ireland's swimmers on the world stage. I believe there is massive talent in the nation and that this can be combined with a highly able coaching and support staff to achieve Swim Ireland's vision".

To read the full report on John's appointment see our Swim Ireland website. Read more...

Out of the water...

A round-up of some of the stories around the development of our sport.

#Water Polo

January and February have proved to be very busy months for water polo in Ireland with National cups taking place as well as development with continues weekly right across the country.

For all news and event information see our water polo newsletter which can be found on our Swim Ireland website

#Competition

Selection policies for international meets taking place this Summer are now available online. To see these please click here

Information on the Irish Open Swimming Championships has now been published. Along with these please note changes made to the competition. Read more...