Wiffen and McSharry Lead 12-Strong World Championships Team

Olympic Champion Daniel Wiffen and fellow Olympic medallist Mona McSharry will spearhead Swim Ireland’s 12-strong team into this summer’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, one year on from an Olympic Games which saw the Irish swimming team returned from Paris with three medals.

In Singapore, Wiffen will be looking to defend the 800m and 1500m Freestyle World Titles that he won in Doha in 2024.

With in-form Olympic finalist Ellen Walshe named alongside the recently minted World Short Course Championships medallist Shane Ryan, the team will be vying for semi-final and final appearances across all eight days of competition. Exciting prospects join wise and experienced heads who will don the green jacket in Singapore, with John Shortt, Evan Bailey and Ellie McCartney prominently indicating the exciting youth that is coming to the fore in Irish swimming; such athletes will take their seats on the plane for Kallang alongside last year’s European Champion Danielle Hill and Olympic semi-finalist Tom Fannon.

With ten athletes named to the European Aquatics Under 23 Championships team in Slovakia, this will form a final World Championships preparation meet for five athletes who are Singapore-bound, whilst the remainder of the team will focus on this Championships as the pinnacle point for their summer racing. With the World University Games being held at the same time as the World Championships in 2025, only Lottie Cullen can be nominated to Student Sport Ireland for this team.

Two European Aquatics Junior Championship events, one pool-based and one of open-water competition see teams of 16 and 2 athletes named respectively to feature in Europe’s hottest competitions for those 18 years of age and under. Having won medals at this event last year, Olympian Grace Davison will be hoping to add to her collection in her final year of eligibility, whilst John Shortt, the reigning European Junior 200m Backstroke Champion, will look to use this challenge as his final Singapore preparation.

Swim Ireland have nominated a group of athletes to the Olympic Federation of Ireland for this summer’s European Youth Olympic Festival in Macedonia, with names to be confirmed at a later stage, and the summer will be completed with a June selection to the World Aquatics Junior Championships, with the aforementioned European Junior Championships serving as the Irish Trials for this event which is being held in Romania during August.

Ireland National Senior Team 2025 Schedule:

21st – 22nd May               Mare Nostrum Swim Tour (Barcelona, Spain)

24th – 25th May               Mare Nostrum Swim Tour (Canet-en-Roussillon, France)

26th – 28th June              Sette Colli Swim Meet (Rome, Italy)

26th – 28th June              European Aquatics U23 Championships

27th July – 3rd August   World Aquatics Swimming Championships (Singapore)