Swim Ireland welcomes the official selection by the Olympic Federation of Ireland of the nine-strong swimming team who will compete for Team Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer.
We extend our congratulations to all
of the athletes who will represent Ireland at the Games, and recognise that
this is a culmination of the significant efforts that many Irish athletes and
coaches have made across the course of the qualification period.
This has been far from a regular
Olympic qualification period, with some exceptional circumstances faced
throughout 2020 and 2021, and this has required a huge collective effort to
ensure that our athletes were given the best possible chances to qualify for
the Games, in what was an ever-changing and evolving environment.
Those who achieved a FINA ‘A’ Olympic
Qualifying Time in the designated qualification period include Daniel Wiffen,
Danielle Hill, Ellen Walshe, Darragh Greene, Mona McSharry and Shane Ryan, and
all are selected to the Olympic team as a result. This is the highest number of
FINA ‘A’ standards Ireland has ever achieved.
Each of these athletes will swim the
event(s) in which they achieved Olympic Qualification Times, with additional
individual events also now available to them (see below).
Additionally, Finn McGeever and Jack
McMillan have been selected as ‘relay-only’ athletes to compete in the Men’s
4x200m Freestyle Relay – the first Olympic relay for Ireland in 49 years and
the first ever men’s relay.
The invitation to compete in the
Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay was rescinded by FINA, resulting in Ireland’s ‘relay
only’ athlete availability reducing from four athletes to two athletes as part
of this process.
Joining them on this relay team will
be Brendan Hyland, Ireland’s only athlete to receive a FINA ‘B’ invitation to
attend the Games. With no other FINA ‘B’ invites received from FINA, Hyland’s
invite was ultimately crucial to Ireland being able to field a Men’s 4x200m
Freestyle Relay at Tokyo
Although it is not Swim Ireland’s
philosophy to accept such invites, without this invite, the Men’s Freestyle
Relay would not have travelled to Tokyo 2020, with the relay team requiring at
least two athletes qualified in individual events featuring within it.
The programming of the Men’s 200m
Breaststroke and Men’s 800m Freestyle events immediately before and after this
relay made this selection a particular challenge.
The fourth member of this relay team
will be Shane Ryan, as under Olympic rules this athlete can only be selected
from the three male swimmers on the team who have a FINA ‘A’ time.
As a result, two of the four swimmers
whose performances at the 2021 LEN European Championships in May were crucial
to ensuring Ireland’s invitation to the Tokyo 2020 Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay
cannot be selected under Olympic rules.
Without the efforts of Jordan Sloan
(Bangor Swimming Club) and Gerry Quinn (National Centre Dublin & Longford
Swimming Club), Hyland, McMillan, and McGeever this Irish relay would not be
competing in Japan. Swim Ireland’s gratitude to and respect for these two
particular athletes is immeasurable and their contributions to Ireland’s first
qualifying relay in 49 years are quite exceptional in both cases.
Jon Rudd, National Performance
Director and Team Leader for the Games said: “This has been the longest ever
Olympic cycle and qualification period that the sport has faced. To have nine
swimmers amongst an 11 member aquatics team for the Games is an excellent
outcome for our sport and all those involved.
“A double Trials and a protracted
relay appeal meant that many of our athletes have not known until very recently
whether they would or could be selected to this team, and for all of the
difficult days of uncertainty that they have had to face, we very much
sympathise with them, particularly those who did not get over the line on this
occasion. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Jordan and Gerry in
particular.
“For the nine athletes on this team,
there have been numerous coaches, clubs and family members that have been part
of the journey alongside all of our athletes and for this, we sincerely thank
them. Our attentions now turn to our preparation camp in Hamamatsu and our
strongest endeavours to see this talented team perform to their best over the
nine days of racing in Tokyo.”
This is the largest team of swimmers
Ireland has ever sent to the Olympic Games and joined by two divers – Tanya
Watson and Oliver Dingley – this is the largest team of aquatic athletes
Ireland has sent to the Olympic Games since 1928.
Olympic Swimming Team – Tokyo 2020
Name Home Programme Coach Events
Entered
Darragh Greene National Centre
(Dublin) Ben Higson 100m Breaststroke 200m Breaststroke
Danielle Hill Larne SC Peter Hill
100m Backstroke 50m Freestyle
Brendan Hyland National Centre
(Dublin) Ben Higson 200m Butterfly 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Finn McGeever National Centre
(Limerick) John Szaranek 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Jack McMillan Bangor SC Paul Dennis
4x200m Freestyle Relay
Mona McSharry University of Tennessee
Matt Kredich 100m Breaststroke 200m Breaststroke
Shane Ryan National Centre (Dublin)
Ben Higson 100m Backstroke 100m Butterfly 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Ellen Walshe Templeogue SC Brian
Sweeney 200m Individual Medley 100m Butterfly
Daniel Wiffen Loughborough
UniversityAndi Manley 800m Freestyle 1500m Freestyle
Notes
More on FINA ‘B’ Invites
FINA invites all FINA ‘A’ time
achievers to the Olympic Games. The number of invites via the FINA ‘A’ standard
do not fill all the events and once ‘relay only’ athletes are nominated by
federations as well as those nations receiving universality invitations, FINA
then issue invites to the highest ranked FINA ‘B’ time achievers to complete
the places available to them from the IOC.
Brendan Hyland achieved the FINA ‘B’
time in 200m Butterfly and was deemed by FINA to have achieved a high enough
ranking to earn such an invitation. It is not Swim Ireland’s philosophy to
accept FINA ‘B’ invites to the Games, but without Hyland’s invite, the Men’s
4x200m Freestyle Relay would not have been able to compete due to the timing of
two key individual events in and around the relay heats.
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