Ireland has announced a roster of 12 swimmers who will compete at the bespoke 2024 World Aquatics Championship in February. That makes them among the first swimming nations with qualifiers to announce a roster for the 2024 championships that is as big as their 2023 championship roster, where Ireland also sent 12.
That includes the newest World Record holder, Daniel Wiffen, who at the European Short Course Championships earlier this month broke both the only World Record set in the pool in 2023 and the oldest World Records on the books at World Aquatics.
Wiffen trains abroad under Andi Manley at Loughborough University in England, and is one of four Irish swimmers on this roster who trains primarily overseas. Conor Ferguson also trains at Loughborough, albeit with Ian Hulme; Max McCusker trains at the Millfield School also in England; and on the women’s team, Mona McSharry trains in the United States at the University of Tennessee.
That group represents four of the six swimmers who advanced out of preliminary rounds at the 2023 World Championships, with McSharry placing 5th in the 100 breaststroke.
The two domestically-trained swimmers who advanced out of prelims are both absent from this year’s roster, the only two who aren’t returning from 2023 to 2024. Danielle Hill, who was 10th in the 50 backstroke semifinals, and Ellen Walshe, who was 9th in the 200 IM semifinals, are both not on Ireland’s roster for the World Championships in 2024.
Their spots will be filled by Grace Davison and Maria Godden, who this summer were parts of other international rosters for Ireland.
Davison, an Irish Junior Record holder in several sprint events, was named to both the European U-23 Championships roster, the European Junior Championships roster, and the Commonwealth Youth Games roster, but opted to focus on the two junior meets. Godden raced at the European U-23 Championships, placing 6th in the 50 back, 5th in the 100 back, and 5th in the 200 back at that Irish-hosted meet.
“It is an unusual time of the year to have such an event, and we may never see this again, particularly in Olympic year, but it must be embraced, and we have to take the opportunities that come with it,” said National Performance Director Jon Rudd. “Daniel Wiffen, Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe have all booked their places in Paris, and this is a chance for our swimmers, divers and our relays to add themselves to Team Ireland and ensure their spots come July.”
The pool swimming portion of the 2024 World Championships will be held from February 11-18 in Doha, Qatar.
Ireland’s 2024 World Championships Roster
Men’s Roster (7)
| First Name | Last Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Tom | Fannon* | National Centre (Dublin) | Steve Beckerleg |
| Conor | Ferguson* | Loughborough University | Ian Hulme |
| Darragh | Greene* | National Centre (Dublin) | Steve Beckerleg |
| Max | McCusker* | Millfield School | Ryan Livingstone |
| Shane | Ryan* | National Centre (Dublin) | Steve Beckerleg |
| John | Shortt* | National Centre (Limerick) | John Szaranek |
| Daniel | Wiffen* | Loughborough University | Andi Manley |
Women’s Roster (5)
| First Name | Last Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Victoria | Catterson* | National Centre (Dublin) | Steve Beckerleg |
| Grace | Davison | Ards SC | Curtis Coulter |
| Maria | Godden | National Centre (Limerick) | John Szaranek |
| Mona | McSharry* | University of Tennessee | Matt Kredich |
| Erin | Riordan* | National Centre (Dublin) | Steve Beckerleg |
* – also competed at the 2023 World Championships
Divers for 2024 World Championships
| First Name | Last Name | Home Programme | Home Coach |
| Clare | Cryan | City of Sheffield | Thomas Owens |
| Ciara | McGing | Ohio State University | Justin Sochor |
| Jake | Passmore | City of Leeds | Marc Holdsworth |
Update, Greene has moved from the Dublin Centre and is now overseas training in Birisbane
Bespoke? Really?
bespoke
/bɪˈspəʊk/
adjective BRITISH
made for a particular customer or user.
this edition only exists to satisfy a pre-existing contract, therefore it is bespoke
2024 world championship is bespoke because it’s not normal and one-off.
Daniel Wiffen is animated in photos
What are their relay chances for the Olympics?
In what events?
the only possibility was the m4x200, as ireland’s aggregate is 21 seconds faster than the 16th place finisher. but wiffen is the only one in that group going to doha, so they dont have a chance now
Wiffen and McSharry both winning multiple medals in Doha
I didn’t even know Ireland had 12 swimmers in their country lol
We’ve roughly 13-15 (depends on the year) but you can’t send everyone! 🤣