Swim Ireland has today announced the teams of swimmers that will represent Ireland and Northern Ireland at this Summers International Meets. 7th July 2014
Two years out from the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, swimmers will compete in European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
2013 World and European medallists Fiona Doyle and Barry Murphy are among a team of 7 that will travel to Berlin, Germany in August to compete in the Senior European Swimming and Open Water Championships. Berlin will see Europe’s top swimmers compete over 7 days of competition at the “Velodrom”. Murphy and Doyle are joined by 2012 Olympian Sycerika McMahon, with Dan Sweeney, Nicholas Quinn and Irish Record holder and multiple national title holder Brendan Hyland in the pool. Ireland’s Open Water Warrior Chris Bryan will contest the 10K and 25K events in the ‘Regattastrecke Grünau’.
Prior to competing at the European Championships Sycerika McMahon will lead a team of ten swimmers representing Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, McMahon has qualified in five events including her favoured 100m Breaststroke. Swimming at the Games will run from the 24th – 29th July.
Speaking ahead of the Championships Swim Ireland National Performance Director Peter Banks said “This is always an important year in the Olympic Cycle as we look to what swimmers are on target for the 2016 Games. In the senior meets the Commonwealth Games and Europeans will have some great world class competition available for our swimmers and as always we are looking to the future with the junior swimmers.”
Eight swimmers will compete at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Dordrecht, Holland starting this Wednesday 9th until the 13th July. Seven Irish swimmers as well as a women’s relay will compete on the first day of competition including Dearbhail McNamara (50m Breaststroke) and 2013 semi-finalist Laoise Fleming (200m Backstroke) who along with Calum Bain will also compete at the 2014 World Youth Olympics in Nanjing China from the 17th – 22nd August. McNamara, aged just 16, had qualified for the European Senior Championships but due to a clash has opted to swim at the Youth Olympics.
Swim Ireland will also send a group of young swimmers to the Canadian Age Group Championships in July to give them experience before they compete at European Juniors and European Youth Olympics in 2015.
Paralympics Ireland will announce the team for the IPC European Championships, August 4th – 10th in Eindhoven, in due course.
