| Swim Ireland’s team for their premier benchmark meet of 2019, the FINA World Championships in Korea will be spearheaded by 2018 World Championships medallist Shane Ryan. National Performance Director Jon Rudd has confirmed a selection of ten athletes to the Irish team for the event in July of this year, following their sole selection Trials, the Irish Open Swimming Championships in Dublin. Ryan, who has made significant progress under the guidance of National Senior Team Head Coach Ben Higson since transferring his training base to the National Centre (Dublin) in January of this year, will be joined by World Youth Olympics medallist Niamh Coyne and World Junior silver medallist Conor Ferguson in Gwangju. Darragh Greene, Jordan Sloan, Robbie Powell and Brendan Hyland also join the team from Higson’s coaching group, with Bangor’s Jack McMillan & Curtis Coulter and Templeogue’s Ellen Walshe also featuring in a Team that will enter three relays at the Championships. The eight days in Korea is the primary opportunity for nations to qualify their relays for the 2020 Olympic Games and this Irish selection places a great deal of attention to that fact. For the LEN European Junior Championships in Kazan, a blend of individual and relay performance has again been considered amongst the eight athletes selected, with Eoin Corby and Uiseann Cooke already displaying performances this season which will challenge the best in Europe when it comes to the event in June. Corby also joins Amelia Kane and Daniel Wiffin as a trio who will challenge at this year’s FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest. Nominations to the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) have also been made for a small but focused team to feature at the IOC European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku, with Molly Mayne and Ellie McKibbin being considered by the OFI for selection ratification in the coming weeks. National Performance Director Jon Rudd is very positive around the selections made and said, “We asked our athletes and coaches to once again step up and deliver performances in a sole Trials period and this selection is a culmination of that process. For our three junior/youth teams, athletes had to deliver high standards in the heats to have the easiest passage onto our National Teams and those selected here were all able to do that in a pressurised Trials environment. Both our season best and lifetime best performances at the Irish Open were impressive and we can now focus on this final cycle into the summer and deliver again in each athlete’s benchmark meet. The Olympic Games are closer than ever and we are no less than one year away from our own Olympic Trials. With this in mind, opportunities and challenges such as those before us this summer must be used wisely – for both the moment itself and in preparation for Tokyo. We can all feel and see our progress and the summer of 2019 will be yet another important step for those of us seeking international success from Irish swimming” *The qualification period for divers for Summer Internationals will remain open to 28th April 2019 and as such the team will be announced at a later date. 2019 FINA World Championships (Gwangju, Korea) Selections (Athlete Name, Home Programme, Home Coach) Curtis Coulter, Bangor, Paul Dennis Niamh Coyne, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Conor Ferguson, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Darragh Greene, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Brendan Hyland, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Jack McMillan, Bangor, Paul Dennis Robert Powell, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Shane Ryan, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Jordan Sloan, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Ellen Walshe, Templeogue (Dublin), Brian Sweeney 2019 FINA World Junior Championships (Budapest, Hungary) Selections (Athlete Name, Home Programme, Home Coach) Eoin Corby, National Centre (Limerick), John Szaranek & Emmet Crowley Amelia Kane, Ards (Newtonards), Davy Johnston Daniel Wiffen, Lisburn City, Martin McGann 2019 LEN European Junior Championships (Kazan, Russia) Selections Athlete Name, Home Programme, Home Coach, Eoin Corby, National Centre (Limerick), John Szaranek & Emmet Crowley Uiseann Cooke, National Centre (Limerick), John Szaranek & Emmet Crowley Paddy Johnston, Ards (Newtonards), Davy Johnston Amelia Kane, Ards (Newtonards), Davy Johnston Alfie Kelly, City of Newcastle, Ryan Livingston Sean Scannell, National Centre (Dublin), Ben Higson & Steven Beckerleg Daniel Wiffen, Lisburn City, Martin McGann Sean McNicholl, Hamilton Aquatics, Ash Morris 2019 IOC European Youth Olympic Festival (Baku, Azerbaijan) Nominations Athlete Name, Home Programme, Home Coach Molly Mayne, Hamilton Aquatics, Ash Morris Ellie McKibbin, Ards (Newtonards), Davy Johnston |
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