Brendan Hyland poised to take Olympic shot as national swimming trials announced
Brendan Hyland. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Certainty has been in short supply for Ireland’s Olympic hopefuls, so Brendan Hyland is relishing the opportunity to qualify for Tokyo at the national team trials which have now been confirmed for April at the National Aquatic Centre.
The trials will replace the Irish Open Swimming Championships which, like so much else, have fallen victim to the pandemic and lockdowns and will offer athletes a shot at securing the qualifying standard for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The event will also serve as a qualifying route for the 2021 LEN European Championships in Budapest in May, the FISU World University Games in Chengdu, China, in August, and the LEN European Junior Championships in July at a venue that is yet to be confirmed.
The trials are open to all high-performance swimmers currently training in recognised training bubbles at centres in Dublin, Limerick, and Bangor Aurora, as well as others of the required standard who are living and training offshore.
The competition will consist of a full Olympic programme with heats, semi-finals, and finals in the 50m, 100m, and 200m events, as well as finals in the 400m, 800m, and 1,500m, giving swimmers a number of opportunities to hit their marks.
Shane Ryan and Darragh Green, who had achieved their respective ‘A’ standards, have already been confirmed for the Olympics by Swim Ireland after FINA changed the qualifying criteria as a result of Covid complications.
Hyland’s PB, recorded at the World Championships in South Korea two years ago, is just 0.07 seconds outside the 200m Butterfly mark of 1:56.48 and he has been steeling himself for this very opportunity for months.
Speaking to the last month, he explained how he had been preparing himself mentally for the challenge of racing with no more than one or two other competitors at an empty pool in Dublin with his Games on the line.
“The addition of semi-finals gives us an extra chance to perform at our best and, ultimately, my aim is to nail the 200m Butterfly time at the start of the meet,” he explained today. “That’s always been the plan for a long time now.”
This is all contingent on events, of course. Covid numbers, to be precise, but the trials have been given the green light after considerable consultation with the Department of Sport, Sport Ireland, and numerous other stakeholders.
The trials are not the perfect answer for the swimming community at large but, as Swim Ireland National Performance Director Jon Rudd explained, they are a welcome alternative given the obstacles in everyone’s path right now.
"As we continue to deal with the challenge that Covid presents us, we felt that it was important to provide athletes with the best possible opportunity to qualify for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and/or for other Irish national teams this summer, whilst recognising that a lot of the athletes that would normally partake in this competition will not feature as they have not been able to train and prepare for a number of weeks.
“The event will be live-streamed, and our swimming community will be able to join us each day to cheer on those looking to represent their nation this summer and we believe that the balance that this gives us in April is one which will be fully understood and supported by those involved in Irish swimming. For those who are not able to train right now, please remain patient, as your day will come.”
Meanwhile, Sport Ireland have announced a further €706,000 boost for swimming pool operators as part of the second and final phase of the Covid-19 swimming pool grant scheme.
The €2.5m funding scheme was announced as part of the Government's July stimulus package which aimed to support publicly accessible swimming pools in responding to the challenge associated with maintaining swimming pools during periods of closure.
Grants have since been awarded to over 300 facilities across the country.
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