Irish Open Swimming Championships kicks off today in National Aquatic Centre

The Irish Open Swimming Championships began today, Tuesday, April 19 at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, the first such Championships since 2019.

Ran by Swim Ireland, the 5-day event will see almost 400 swimmers from 74 clubs compete for national titles in 34 individual events and places on seven Irish National Teams.

The Open will be the final opportunity for swimmers to post consideration times for this summer’s international events including the World and European Championships, World Para Swimming Championships, Commonwealth Games (Northern Ireland), World and European Junior Championships and the European Youth Olympic Festival.

Tokyo Olympians and Paralympians will highlight the meet with Paralympic medallists Ellen Keane and Nicole Turner, and finalists Roisin NiRiain and Barry McClements are already under consideration for the World Para Swimming Championships in Portugal in June having met the minimum qualification standards.

Danielle Hill, Darragh Greene, Jack McMillan and Finn McGeever will all compete, while Shane Ryan continues to recover from shoulder surgery, and Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe, Daniel Wiffen and Brendan Hyland remain at their training bases abroad.

All nine swimming Olympians have been pre-selected for the European Championships in Italy in August with Hill, Wiffen and McMillan also selected for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July.

Speaking ahead of the event Swim Ireland National Performance Director Jon Rudd commented: “It’s absolutely wonderful to be back with an Irish Open Championships in Dublin after what seems like so long.

“All our 2021 Olympians are pre-selected for the senior benchmark competitions this summer so a number of them will choose not to be present this time of asking.

“However, there will certainly be plenty of exciting head-to-head challenges across the course of the week with numerous junior and senior National Team places very much up for grabs.

“It’s an exciting time to get the nation back racing on home soil in front of a crowd – and I’d suggest that it’s one not to be missed for any lover of the sport.”