In the main, athletes were selected to compete in one or other of the two events, as it is unusual for both to take place in the same calendar year; events being pushed back because of the pandemic has resulted in the end of 2021 and much of 2022 being more hectic for international racing than usual.

The World Championships is set to run over six days from 16^th – 21^st December, with the European equivalent also running over six days from 2^nd – 7^th November 2021.

Ireland’s youthful European Championships team features three athletes – Eoin Corby, Molly Mayne and Grace Hodgins – that will focus on gathering experience, while among the 12 athletes in Ireland’s heading to Abu Dhabi are eight Olympians, including Tokyo 2020 Olympic finalist Mona McSharry.

 The Irish team for the World Championships will also feature Olympic Top-16 finisher Daniel Wiffen and Shane Ryan and Danielle Hill, who have performed notably in the 2021 season of the International Swimming League (ISL).

Fellow Olympians Brendan Hyland, Finn McGeever, Jack McMillan, and Ellen Walshe will also compete, with Darragh Greene the only Tokyo 2020 swimmer not travelling, as he only recently returned to the training pool after an extended post-Olympics break.

Identified relays will once again be a strong focus for the Irish contingent with some athletes selected to the team specifically for this purpose. The Irish team will be led by Team Leader Jon Rudd and Head Coach Ben Higson, with Michael McCarthy also selected as a team coach to support the travelling contingent.

The Irish team at the European Championships in Kazan will be led by Head Coach John Szaranek, who will be assisted by Trojan Swimming Club coach Jonathan Preston.

On this team, multiple Irish Junior Record holder Eoin Corby is the most experienced of the group. He and teammate Molly Mayne recently started their short course season at the FINA Swimming World Cup.

They will be joined by youngster Grace Hodgins, who will gain her first Irish cap at all levels when she first steps onto the blocks.

National Performance Director Jon Rudd said: “After what was our most successful Olympic Games in at least 25 years, we are delighted to be able to return to some high-quality international racing, something that eluded us during 2020 and 2021 as we approached Tokyo.

“There’s very much an eye on the future with some of these athletes and they all met what we felt was a stringent and robust Selection Policy to make these teams.

“Some athletes have been unable to take up their places, particularly for Kazan, as November is not an easy period for those in full-time education, but for those who can take the opportunity, we will look forward to some fast and exciting short course racing across the two meets.”

The Swim Ireland Selection Policy permitted Mona McSharry a place on both Irish National Teams at these two events, but McSharry will focus on the Abu Dhabi event due to her ongoing academic commitments.

The athletes returning from Kazan will also race in the 2021 Irish National Short Course Championships, which take place at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin from the 16^th – 18^th December.

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Patrick Flanagan – S6 100m Backstroke Heat 2

This is Flanagan’s second race of his debut Paralympic games. Yesterday he finished in seventh place in the 400m Freestyle.

This morning, the Sligo man was hoping to build on that performance in the Backstroke. After watching a very strong opening heat, Flanagan would take part in the second race.

#ParaSwimming Patrick Flanagan becomes a Paralympian at #Tokyo2020 – Patrick finished 7th place in the S6 400 Freestyle with a time of 5:40.48.

He will return to action tomorrow for the S6 100m Backstroke.#TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel | #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/xSxnnWmVir

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 2, 2021

The Irish swimmer started the race in the water in lane seven with six other very strong swimmers. The outside lanes are normally the hardest places to start a race and he struggled to keep up with the leaders in the beginning.

Flanagan started to speed up before the only turn and he jumped up to fifth place. He held his position for the remainder of the race, not able to find the extra gear needed to scare the event favorites.

The Irishman hit the wall in a time of 1:26.81, this was unfortunately not enough for him to progress to the finals later today.

#ParaSwimming Patrick Flanagan wrapped up #Tokyo2020 for #TeamIreland Swim Team this morning

Patrick swam a time of 1:26.81 in the S6 100m Backstroke Heat. #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/mCn61MxKXQ

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 3, 2021

The end of the event concludes Flanagan’s Paralympic journey in Tokyo but as a young debutant, he still has many years ahead of him and Paris is only three years away.

He has done his coach David Malone and the people of Rosses point proud with two strong races as part of a historic Irish Paralympic team.

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Patrick Flanagan – Men’s 400m Freestyle – S6 Heat 2

Flanagan’s first race of Tokyo 2020 commenced just after 01:00 Irish time this morning.

The Sligo man started in lane one in the water, giving him a distinct disadvantage to those that could jump from the block.

Starting behind most of the other swimmers, Flanagan remained in eighth place after the second turn. After the halfway mark, he continued to drop off from the strong Mexican swimmers leading the race.

Flanagan finished the race with a time of 5:40.48 in eighth place 28 seconds behind the leader. He may be disappointed with the result of the race today but hopefully, he can build on this for his next event, the Backcrawl tomorrow morning.

Sligo LGFA wishes the best of luck to Patrick Flanagan (Rossespoint) as he takes to the pool at 1.07am Irish time. #paraswimming

#teamireland @abbvie @ConnachtGold @PlayrFit@itsligo @SligoChampion @sligoweekender@oceanfmsport @HerSportDotIE @SportsDaz pic.twitter.com/P6G6OJDVAR

— Sligo LGFA (@SligoLGFA) September 1, 2021

Barry McClements – Men’s 100m Butterfly – S9 Heat 2

McClements began his fourth and final race of what has been a very busy Paralympic campaign a half an hour after Flanagan this morning. He has already shown some very strong performances in the last six days at the Tokyo Aquatic center but he was hoping to reach another final today.

McClements started the race in lane six with five other swimmers. The 19-year-old started fast and had himself in fourth at the turn, he remained with the leaders and posted a time of 1:02.83.

He needed to have an agonizing wait for the third heat to know if he had qualified. After watching the Australian William Martin break a world record he knew he missed out on a final place by 0.7 seconds.

This marks the end of McClements’ strong Paralympic journey after competing in four events and reaching one final.

The future seems bright for the teenager and Paris in three years’ time cannot come any sooner as McClements can only improve.

#paraswimming – Barry McClements has set the standard early on for #TeamIreland #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/EIvtpTSQV8

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) August 25, 2021

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Ireland have made a very strong start to the Tokyo Paralympics with Keane earning a memorable gold medal this morning and teammate Nicole Turner reaching the finals in her only event so far.

There's the Irish tricolour raised high in Tokyo.

Well done, Ellen Keane. All those years of hard work paying off.#TeamIreland #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/iMoNzEUw5P

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) August 26, 2021

But one of Ireland’s newest gems is their youngest athlete Róisín Ní Riain. The 16-year-old is at her debut Games and has reached two finals in her opening two races, setting new personal bests along the way.

Now it was time for the freestyle.

Imagine being only 16 at your first Paralympic Games and making the final with a 3 second PB Roisin Ni Riain lane 6 pic.twitter.com/g5i7Z1VyoF

— Alana Frattaroli (@ThrowerLana) August 25, 2021

Róisín Ní Riain – Women’s 400m Freestyle (Heats)

This was one of Ní Riain’s longer events needing eight long lengths of the pool. She made a strong, demanding start as she remained with the leading group.

As the race progress and the lactic acid began to fill her muscles, the teenager showed no signs of slowing and powered her way to the finish line.

She hit the wall in a time of 4:45.14, setting yet another personal best for herself. This result will be good enough for her to qualify for the women’s final later today.

The final race will take place at 11:43 Irish time this morning and all Irish fans should tune in to see Ireland’s future Paralympic great in action.

At 16-years old, Róisín Ní Riain will make her #Paralympics debut as the youngest member of the @ParalympicsIRE squad. The talented swimmer made her International Championship debut earlier in May where she won bronze in the S13 backstroke! pic.twitter.com/hpe2lpdLAx

— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) August 20, 2021

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Keane shattered her personal record with her gold medal swim as she recorded a time nearly two seconds better than her previous best – recorded in the heats of the event.

Keane won her heat in style with a then-personal best time of 1:21.71 and improved on it when it mattered most with a scintillating 1:19.93 in Wednesday morning’s final.

The 26-year-old’s rival in the heat, New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe got off to a better start in the race and took the lead early on.

The Irish Paralympian’s turn after the first 50 metres of the race swung the momentum in her favour and she chased Pascoe down to take home the top prize.

Keane overtook her opponent in the final stretch and touched home in first place with the New Zealander in second.

Pascoe won New Zealand their first medal of the Tokyo Games in a time of 1:20.32, with Adelina Razetdinova taking bronze for the Russian Paralympic Committee in 1:24.77.

Rio 2016 gold medalist Katarina Roxon was the fourth person to touch the wall, doing so for Canada.

Keane talked to RTÉ after her victorious race and spoke of an unexpected event that she feels helped her focus on the race.

“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” she told RTÉ Sport. “When I dove in my goggles filled up with water but I think that was maybe a good thing because I couldn’t see where the girls were around me.

“Just on the turn I saw Sophie a little bit but I just had a game plan in mind and I stuck to that.”

Keane has added to her bronze medal from Rio with her performance on Wednesday in her fourth Paralympics and has opened the doors for more medal for the Irish athletes over the next two weeks.

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Ireland’s busy morning in the pool began just before 03:00 Irish Time.

Róisín Ní Riain – S13 100m Backstroke (Heats)

Ní Riain was looking to go one better from her admirable performances yesterday in the pool. The 16-year-old, in her first Paralympic race, swam a personal best to reach the final.

Today she went in heat two of the 100m backstroke. Starting in lane seven, she lined up against Team USA, Uzbekistani, and Spanish swimmers.

Her good form continued today as she started fast off the blocks and she held a position near the top of the pack at the turn. The speed continued with the final straight and she finished in third place.

Ní Riain swam her second personal best in two days with a time of 1:09.23, this time would be good enough for her to reach the women’s final later today.

#ParaSwimming Róisín Ní Riain finishes 3rd in her heat to 1.09.23 – a time that see's Róisín go into tonight's final in the S13 100m Backstroke

Two PBs in Two Days for the Limerick native!#TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/MPXcv5d3iC

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) August 26, 2021

Ellen Keane – SB8 100m Breaststroke (Heats)

This was Keane’s first race of her fourth Paralympic Games. The 26-year-old is one of the more experienced Irish athletes in Tokyo and showed her class to qualify for this year’s competition.

Keane would go in lane five and be up against a tough opponent in Pasco from New Zealand.

Both swimmers started very fast and broke out in front ahead of all the other athletes. At the turn, Keane was holding onto Pasco’s shoulder and maintaining the pace.

The final 25-meter stretch was very close as the Irish woman began to attack the finish line. By the narrowest of margins, Keane snuck into first place as they stretched out for the wall.

She can be very happy with herself finishing the heats with the fastest time of 1:21.71, a new personal best, and qualifying in good stead for the finals later today.

Keane seems like a strong medal candidate which is very impressive due to a change in classification last year seemingly leaving her hard done by.

リオ2016大会の #パラ水泳 女子100m平泳ぎ SB8で銅メダルを獲得したエレン・キーン選手。#東京2020 大会は4度目の #パラリンピック となりますが、両親が会場以外から声援を送るのは今回が初めてです。皆様、応援よろしくお願いいたします！ Best of luck to Ellen #TeamIreland #WomenInSport pic.twitter.com/dQ4lEeJLAa

— アイルランド大使館 Ireland in Japan (@IrishEmbJapan) August 25, 2021

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Starting just after 01:00 in the morning, Ireland’s swimmers began their Paralympic journey in the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

Barry McClements – S9 400m Freestyle Heat 2

McClements lined up in lane seven of a strong heat. The 19-year-old began fast, making the first turn in third. Australia’s Tuckfield quickly burst away from the pack as the Irishman battle for a top-three finish.

By the halfway mark, he had dropped into fourth by milliseconds from Italy’s competitor. McClements began to tire in the outside lane coming into the final 100m.

The Down man finished the race in fifth place in a time of 4:27.11 which was a personal best for him at his debut Paralympic Games. This ranked him as the first reserve for the final that is later today.

Barry McClements swimming a great race in the 400m freestyle.#Paralympics #Tokyo2020 #Swimming #東京2020 pic.twitter.com/MRNbkuAPxS

— Aoife Bourke (@Abourke3Aoife) August 25, 2021

Nicole Turner – S6 50m Freestyle Heat

This is Turner’s second Paralympic Games as she lined up in a heat with strong competitors. She got off to a decent start settling in with the rest of the pack in the quick race.

By the end of the length of the pool, Turner finished in fifth place in 35.47 seconds. This time set a new personal best for the swimmer. The Laois woman now moves onto the next race later today.

#ParaSwimming Nicole Turner clocks a new PB and moves onto the S6 50m Freestyle tonight! #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/5YmFqIFz9e

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) August 25, 2021

Róisín Ní Ríaín – S13 100m Butterfly Heat

Ní Ríaín, although in a good first heat, came in with high hopes starting in lane six. She is Ireland’s youngest athlete at this Paralympics at 16 years old.

From the start, she was pushing for the top. After a fast first length, she found herself in third place as four swimmers pulled away up top.

Ní Ríaín only continued to speed up in the final length and was very close to taking second place in the heat. She finished in a time of 1:08.18.

After the remaining heats, she finished in eighth place overall qualifying for the final later today. She stands less than two seconds behind a medal place, now wanting to go one step further.

At 16-years old, Róisín Ní Riain will make her #Paralympics debut as the youngest member of the @ParalympicsIRE squad. The talented swimmer made her International Championship debut earlier in May where she won bronze in the S13 backstroke! pic.twitter.com/hpe2lpdLAx

— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) August 20, 2021

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They signed off from Tokyo 2020 in style as Team Ireland athlete Daniel Wiffen smashed the Irish Senior Record in the 1500m Freestyle with a time of 15:07.69, his second such Record of the Games.

The 20-year-old from Magheralin had set a new Irish Senior Record of 15:16.90 at the Irish National Team Trials in April, days after qualifying for the Olympic Games in 800m Freestyle with another new Irish Senior Record of 7:52.68.

Wiffen again set two new records at the Games in these events, taking the 800m down to 7:51.65 and impressively wiping nearly 10 seconds off the 1500m mark.

Based at Loughborough University, Wiffen also won his heat in both events and moved up six places in the rankings in the 1500m to finish 20^th overall.

He said: “I loved it! It was a fun race, I enjoyed it, taking it all in and got a nine-second personal best time as well!

“My target was to go and PB and try and get closer to the 15-minute barrier. I’m obviously closer now, seven seconds off. The tactic was just to get in, if there’s a racer, race with them. If not, I had to assess it during the race and pick it up if I wasn’t going fast enough.”

He added: “It’s been great! I’ve been having so much fun here, I’m so happy to be here. Next, I’m definitely going to have a long break, maybe go on holiday!”

Fellow Olympic debutant and Team Ireland swimmer Danielle Hill also finished her Tokyo 2020 campaign on Friday in the 50m Freestyle where she posted 25.70 to be sixth in her heat and 33^rd overall.

Hill said: “Although I may be the fastest woman in Ireland, it’s a very different field out here – it was nice to gain that experience.

“As I said before I went in, you sit in the house and you watch the Olympics and this is the event that you want to do. It’s the one you want to be successful in.

“I’m not quite there yet, but I can walk away with a few things to improve and definitely looking forward to next year.”

The 21-year-old from Larne now looks ahead to making her International Swimming League debut with multiple World and Olympic Champions Katinka Hosszu’s Team Iron.

She said: “I just took a chance and entered myself into the draft. I was so lucky to have two teams looking for me. I decided to go with Team Iron because of the atmosphere that they create and the guys that I will be training with as well – it’s going to be phenomenal.”

Speaking about her first Olympic Games, she added: “I still don’t think it’s sunk in that I qualified six weeks ago. It’s been a whirlwind experience, right from the Trials in April through the Europeans and second Trials and now here. I don’t think I’ve had a chance at any point to breathe and take a step back.

“For anyone who knows the journey I have been on in the past two weeks just to get here and be standing is something that I can be proud of. It’s been a great experience, and I can’t wait for many more.”

National Performance Director Jon Rudd gave his thoughts on Team Ireland’s swimming team’s performance at the Games.

“This is our best Olympic swimming result for a long time and I am extremely proud of these nine athletes and all that they have achieved,” he said.

“The staff here have been amazing in preparing them across the course of three weeks and we also have to thank and congratulate the coaches in the home programmes that got them here and helped us en route.

“An Olympic Final plus the equivalent of two semi-finals (Top-16 finishes) is outstanding for us, as is achieving five Irish Senior Records across seven days of racing.

“We had 15 swims in total and in 13 of them, we rose through the rankings or held our pre-meet position. It’s all fantastic work from and within this team – and we are excited at what this team can achieve in three years time when Paris comes calling”.

Team Ireland now turns its aquatic attention to diving, which begins on Monday when Rio 2016 Olympian Oliver Dingley competes in the preliminary round of 3m Springboard.

On Wednesday, Tanya Watson becomes Ireland’s first-ever female diver to compete at the Olympic Games when she steps up for the preliminary round of the 10m Platform.

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The Magheralin man swam the first heat with a time of 15:07.69, a time nine seconds greater than his previous record in the event – 15:07.90

However, his time is not enough to progress to the final and he finished 20th overall.

All four heats are now completed with the eight fastest swimmers progressing to the final.

The 20-year-old had previously broken the Irish senior record in his Men’s 800m Freestyle heat but also did not progress in that event.

The Irishman clocked in a time of 7:51.65 to win his heat and break the first of two Irish senior records.

The Loughborough University swimmer ends his first Olympics with two Irish senior records from just two swims and has an impressive future ahead of him.

Speaking to RTÉ after his race on Friday morning, Daniel Wiffen said: “Over the moon with that race. I would have liked to have been a bit faster but we can’t ask for much more than a PB and [I’m] happy to improve my record by just under 10 seconds as well. It’s great.”

Wiffen puts his improvements down to a lot of hard work and his move to Loughborough.

Fellow Team Ireland athlete Danielle Hill also competed in her second event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this morning.

The Larne swimmer finished sixth in her Women’s 50m Freestyle heat with a time of 25.70.

Hill was disappointed with her performance on Friday morning and looked downbeat in her post-race interview with RTÉ.

The Olympian said that she felt the need to breathe after 35m, which is not always a good sign.

“[The Olympic experience has] been nice,” Hill said.

“I’ve been so caught up in the emotions of swimming and what happened beforehand that I don’t think I fully enjoyed the experience, but then again it hasn’t been a full Olympic experience.”

Both swimmers will now look towards Paris 2024 after their time in Tokyo.

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