NíRiain, Passmore and Wiffen Named Athletes of the Year at Swim Ireland Awards
Swim Ireland athletes Jake Passmore (diving), Róisín NíRiain (para swimming) and Daniel Wiffen (swimming) have been named as Athletes of the Year while Ellen Keane was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2024 Swim Ireland Awards which took place this evening (Friday) at the Dunboyne Castle Hotel.
Daniel Wiffen won the Swimmer of the Year Award, after an incredible year, where he became Olympic Champion in the 800m Freestyle, Olympic bronze medallist in the 1500m Freestyle, double World Champion, triple European Short Course Champion and World Record Holder in the short course 800m Freestyle.
Paralympic silver and bronze medallist Róisín NíRiain won the Para Swimmer of the Year Award for her success at the Paris Games.
Passmore won the Diver of the Year Award for his performances at the World Championships in June and Olympic Games in July, he was also a finalist in the World Cup Super-Final in April.
Ellen Keane was inducted into the Swim Ireland Hall of Fame, recently retired Keane was honoured for an emphatic career that spanned five Paralympic Games.
Cork club Sunday’s Well SC received the Club of the Year Award after being selected from a shortlist of four which also included Aer Lingus Masters SC, Bluefin SC and Larne SC.
The Water Polo Player of the Year awards went to Matthew Hynes of St. Vincents and Méabh McGurk of Diamonds Water Polo Club. Both were involved in Irish Senior Cup winning teams, while McGurks heroics in the Cup Final contributed to the sides first ever Irish Senior Cup win.
European Junior bronze medallist Grace Davison was honoured with the Female Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year for swimming and after a fantastic season where she qualified to the Olympic Games competing on two relays. Dearbhaile Brady won the Female Performance Pathway Award for Para Swimming having won World Series and European Championships medals, and making her Paralympics debut finishing an impressive 5th in the 50m Butterfly.
National Centre Limerick’s John Shortt won the Male Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year Award after becoming Ireland’s first ever male European Junior Champion, winning gold in the 200m Backstroke and silver in the 100m Backstroke in Lithuania in July.
NíRiain’s National Centre Limerick Coach John Szaranek and Head Coach of Templeogue Swim Team and coach to Olympic finalist Ellen Walshe, Brian Sweeney, were jointly awarded the Performance Coach of the Year Award while Ards’ Curtis Coulter won the Performance Pathway Coach of the Year Award for his work with Grace Davison.
Discipline awards were made to Jane Jolly (Masters), Dave Berry (Open Water) and Gregory Walshe (Disability), while Dolphin Swimming Club’s Mike Murphy was awarded Official of the Year and Drogheda’s Ciaran Doyle Club Coach of the Year.
Four volunteers were honoured for their work within their clubs and regions, Fionnuala O’Neill from Leinster, Pat McTigue (Munster), Natasha Walshe (Connacht) and Catherine Hanratty (Ulster).
Introduced as a new award in 2024, four individuals received Outstanding Contribution to Aquatics Awards, Keith Lynch (Water Polo), Aqualine (Aquatics), Peter Conway (Swimming & Open Water), and Ian Wright (Swimming) where honoured for their contributions to their respective disciplines.
Swim Ireland President Alison Honan dedicated her President’s award to Ulster’s Linda Stoops, for her outstanding contribution to the Ulster region over many years.
Speaking at the event Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane said ‘We are delighted to come together, to celebrate the success of our athletes and to honour those that have helped them to get to where they are. It was fantastic to see so many of our community present to celebrate the most incredible year for Irish Aquatics.’
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2024 Swim Ireland Award Winners
| Club of the Year | Sundays Well SC | |
| Performance Athlete of the Year (Swimming) | Daniel Wiffen | Loughborough University/Larne SC |
| Performance Athlete of the Year (Diving) | Jake Passmore | City of Leeds |
| Performance Athlete of the Year (Para Swimming) | Róisín NíRiain | National Centre Limerick |
| Performance Coach of the Year | John Szaranek | National Centre Limerick |
| Performance Coach of the Year | Brian Sweeney | Templeogue SC |
| Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year | John Shortt | National Centre Limerick |
| Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year | Grace Davison | Ards SC |
| Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year | Dearbhaile Brady | Limavady SC |
| Performance Pathway Coach of the Year | Curtis Coulter | Ards SC |
| Club Coach of the Year | Ciaran Doyle | Drogheda SC |
| Volunteer of the Year (Connacht) | Natasha Walshe | Ballina SC |
| Volunteer of the Year (Leinster) | Fionnuala O’Neill | Trojan SC |
| Volunteer of the Year (Munster) | Pat McTigue | Kingdom SC |
| Volunteer of the Year (Ulster) | Catherine Hanratty | South Lake Masters SC |
| Open Water Swimmer of the Year | Dave Berry | Sandycove SC |
| Masters Swimmer of the Year | Jane Jolly | Cork Masters SC |
| Outstanding Contribution to Aquatics | Peter Conway | Aer Lingus Masters SC |
| Outstanding Contribution to Aquatics | Keith Lynch | St Vincents WPC |
| Outstanding Contribution to Aquatics | Ian Wright | Bangor SC |
| Outstanding Contribution to Aquatics | Aqualine | |
| Disability Swimmer of the Year | Gregory Walsh | South Lake Masters SC |
| Official of the Year | Michael Murphy | Dolphin SC |
| Water Polo Player of the Year (Male) | Matthew Hynes | St Vincents WPC |
| Water Polo Player of the Year (Female) | Méabh McGurk | Diamonds WPC |
| Presidents Award | Linda Stoops | Swim Ulster |
| Hall of Fame | Ellen Keane | NAC SC |
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