A lineup of 35 athletes will comprise Swim Ireland’s National Program for swimming for the 2021-22 session the organization announced today, November 8th.
With just under 1,000 days to go until the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, top talent to the tune of Shane Ryan, Danielle Hill and Darragh Greene are among the national program constituents broken into three tiers.
The Performance tier is for those with a primary focus on Paris 2024, while the Performance Transition identifies those athetles with an even focus on Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028. The Performance Pathwayconsists of athletes with a primary focus on Los Angeles 2028.
The Performance Team will continue to be headed up by National Performance Director for Swimming & Diving, Jon Rudd, with Rudd leading a six-person Performance Senior Leadership Team through the cycle:
Ben Higson, National Head Coach (Swimming)
Damian Ball, National Head Coach (Diving)
Andrew Reid, National Performance Pathway Manager
Paul Talty, Head of Physical Preparation
Kevin McGuigan, Head of Performance Analysis (a new appointment)
National Performance Director Jon Rudd said: “We are delighted to be able to announce our Performance team for this cycle and particularly pleased to be able to retain a highly-talented staff, one that helped deliver Ireland’s best ever aquatics outcome at an Olympic Games, most recently in Tokyo.
“To have the two Kevin’s join us alongside Davy joining the team makes us even stronger in what we can deliver for our athletes.
“This National Programme cohort is also a very exciting list of names and we have already held our first camp for these athletes to bring them together and set the values, culture and expectation for the days ahead into Paris.
“It continues to be an exciting time working in and for Swim Ireland Performance.”
Also revealed today is the fact that an additional national centre has been unveiled in Ulster, based at the Bangor Aurora Aquatic & Leisure Complex in Northern Ireland.
Kevin Anderson, formerly the Head Coach of the Mississauga swimming programme in Ontario, Canada has been appointed as Head Coach of this new Centre, with Ards Swimming Club Head Coach Davy Johnston moving on from his club role to become the Centre’s Assistant Head Coach.
National Programme 2021-22
Performance Cohort
Name – Home Programme (Coach)
Calum Bain – University of Stirling, Scotland (Bradley Hay)
Victoria Catterson – National Centre (Ulster) (Davy Johnston)
Eoin Corby – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Niamh Coyne – National Centre (Dublin) (Ben Higson)
Conor Ferguson – Larne Swimming Club (Peter Hill)
Darragh Greene – National Centre (Dublin) (Ben Higson)
Danielle Hill – Larne Swimming Club (Peter Hill)
Brendan Hyland – National Centre (Dublin) (Ben Higson)
Paddy Johnston – Cleveland State University, USA (Hannah Burandt)
Max McCusker – Florida State University, USA (Neal Studd)
Finn McGeever – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Jack McMillan – National Centre (Ulster) (Davy Johnston)
Mona McSharry – University of Tennessee, USA (Matt Kredich)
Shane Ryan – National Centre (Dublin) (Ben Higson)
Jordan Sloan – National Centre (Ulster) (Davy Johnston)
Ellen Walshe – University of Tennessee, USA (Matt Kredich)
Daniel Wiffen – Loughborough University, England (Andi Manley)
Performance Transition Cohort
Name – Home Programme (Coach)
Uiseann Cooke – University of Edinburgh, Scotland (Chris Jones)
Andrew Feenan – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Maria Godden – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Ethan Hansen – Arizona State University, USA (Bob Bowman)
Amelia Kane – Rice University, USA (Seth Huston)
Julia Knox – George Washington University, USA (Brian Thomas)
Cadan McCarthy – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Ellie McKibbin – National Centre (Ulster) (Davy Johnston)
Robert Powell – National Centre (Dublin) (Ben Higson)
Diarmuid Sutton – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Performance Pathway Cohort
Name – Home Programme (Coach)
Adam Barnes – Ards Swimming Club (Newtownards) (Curtis Coulter)
Ella Carroll – National Centre (Limerick) (John Szaranek)
Grace Davison – Ards Swimming Club (Newtownards) (Curtis Coulter)
Conor Fitzgerald – Splashworld Sharks Swimming Club (Tramore) (Kevin Willmott)
Grace Hodgins – Trojan Swimming Club (Dublin) (Jonathan Preston)
Daniel Kennedy – Repton School, England (Scott Talbot)
Ellie McCartney – National Centre (Ulster) (David Johnston)
Danny Morgan – Project 28/Coolmine Swimming Club (Matt Coward/Neil Curran)
