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Twenty Swimmers Selected for European Aquatics Championships

ByEmma Porter |

Swim Ireland have confirmed four teams who will travel to compete in the forthcoming European Aquatics Championships (both swimming and diving) in Belgrade, Serbia during June, the European Junior Swimming Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania during July, and the European Junior Open Water Championships in Vienna, Austria, taking place the following week.

With a team of 18 swimmers and 2 divers confirmed for Belgrade, some athletes will utilise an individualised section of the meet to prepare for the Olympic Games, whilst for the majority, it will be their summer benchmark international meet and a chance to bring a fine season and an excellent Trials to a culmination.

With Olympic qualifiers Daniel Wiffen, Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe and Tom Fannon opting for alternative preparation plans into the Games, it will be down to Danielle Hill as the sole remaining Olympic individual event qualifier to tune up for Paris in Belgrade, with a number of other Olympic prospects looking for relay call-ups also choosing to be Serbia-bound in the month before the Games. Diver Jake Passmore will also bypass the event whilst he awaits to hear whether he gets a nod from World Aquatics to compete in Paris too.

In the swimming events, familiar names in Irish senior swimming such as Shane Ryan, Darragh Greene, Conor Ferguson and Max McCusker will be joined in Belgrade by the next generation of up and coming stars – Nathan Wiffen, Ellie McCartney and Evan Bailey to name but three of the exciting prospects developing season on season. With seven days of racing on offer in a specially prepared outdoor venue, the Irish contingent will already need to be focused, as the Championships take place just short of three weeks after the Trials that saw them gain selection to the event. For divers Clare Cryan and Ciara McGing, it was the World Championships in Doha in February that saw them last represent Ireland, with both looking to build on the Finalist positions that they achieved at the last iteration of this Championships in 2022.

With the Paris Olympic Games so close, it also means that the LA Games in 2028 will become a full-on focus within a matter of months and the European Junior Championships, both pool and open water, offer those that have 2028 in their sights a chance to make a statement of intent for the cycle ahead. Amongst the 12 pool athletes and 8 open water athletes, it is John Shortt and Grace Davison who jointly lead the pack in this respect, both having benefited from senior World Championship experience in recent times; Denis O’Brien has the status of being the only name to feature in both events, taking his pool distance swimming prowess also into the open water arena.

Andrew Reid, Swim Ireland’s Head of Performance Pathways & Operations will take up the role of Team Leader for both Belgrade and Vilnius. Commenting on the selections, he said, “We’ll all get caught up in the Olympic Games soon enough, and rightfully so, but there’s a great deal of Irish excitement to enjoy before that as we venture into other parts of Europe first; there’s 38 athletes named across these four teams – as well as a chance to see Daniel Wiffen, Ellen Walshe and Tom Fannon and others race at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome in the same week as the Belgrade Championships. In the case of the trip to Serbia, when you bring experience and youth together, you get an exciting dynamic within a team and we can all look forward to these flights into Belgrade, Rome, Vienna and Vilnius not just setting us up for now, with Paris ahead, but also for a great future for Irish swimming, as this programme continues to build and grow each and every year.”

 

2024 European Aquatics Swimming Championships (50m)

Belgrade, Serbia (17th – 23rd June)

Name Home Programme Home Programme Coach
Evan Bailey New Ross SC, Ireland Fran Ronan
Calum Bain National Centre (Dublin), Ireland Steven Beckerleg
Jack Cassin National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Uiseann Cooke Edinburgh University, Scotland Mat Trodden
Eoin Corby National Centre (Dublin), Ireland Steven Beckerleg
Niamh Coyne National Centre (Dublin), Ireland Steven Beckerleg
Lottie Cullen National Centre (Ulster), Ireland Kevin Anderson
Conor Ferguson Loughborough University, England Ian Hulme
Darragh Greene National Centre (Dublin), Ireland Steven Beckerleg
Danielle Hill Larne SC, Ireland Peter Hill
Ellie McCartney National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Max McCusker Millfield School, England Ryan Livingstone
Finn McGeever National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Shane Ryan National Centre (Dublin), Ireland Steven Beckerleg
Cormac Rynn National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
John Shortt National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Oisin Tebite National Centre (Dublin), Ireland Steven Beckerleg
Nathan Wiffen Loughborough University, England Andi Manley

 

2024 European Aquatics Diving Championships 

Belgrade, Serbia (17th – 23rd June)

Name Home Programme Home Programme Coach
Clare Cryan City of Sheffield, England Thomas Owens
Ciara McGing Ohio State University, USA Justin Sochor

 

2024 European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships

Vilnius, Lithuania (2nd – 7th July)

Name Home Programme Home Programme Coach
Reuben Alty Millfield School, England Euan Dale
Leagh Bailey New Ross SC, Ireland Fran Ronan
Adam Bradley City of Liverpool SC, England Darren Ashley
Alana Burns-Atkin Banbridge SC, Ireland Davy Wilson
Brydan Byrne Mount Kelly School, England Emma Collings-Barnes
Niamh Connery Shark SC (Galway), Ireland Trevor Collins & Noel Barrett
Grace Davison Ards SC (Newtonards), Ireland Curtis Coulter
Sean Donnellan Glenalbyn SC (Dublin), Ireland Nickey Burke
Matthew Hamilton Plymouth Leander SC, England Chris Lee
Ava Jones Project 28/Portmarnock SC, Ireland Andrew Addison
Denis O’Brien National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
John Shortt National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek

 

2024 European Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships

Vienna, Austria (12th – 14th July)

Name Home Programme Home Programme Coach
Ella Carroll National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Abby Cunningham Kilkenny SC, Ireland John Duffy
Ronan Fahey Trojan SC (Dublin), Ireland Jonathan Preston
Daragh Horgan National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Sorcha Ni Riain Limerick SC, Ireland Jade Murphy
Denis O’Brien National Centre (Limerick), Ireland John Szaranek
Tadhg O’Brien Dolphin SC (Cork), Ireland Mick McCormack

 

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