As part of our continual evaluation of National Competitions, the Swim Ireland Competitions Steering Group (which is made up of members from the Clubs and Competition and Performance Departments) has undertaken a full review of the eligibility criteria for National Titles/Medals and Records for both Swimming & Diving.
At present, the Swim Ireland rules state that to win an Irish National Championship Medal or claim a National Record, a competitor must be eligible to represent Ireland as per World Aquatics Sport Nationality rules and must be a member in good standing of and compete for a Swim Ireland Club. We wanted to review these conditions considering the evolving demographic within Ireland and as part of the wider overall Swim Ireland Diversity & Inclusion Policy.
As part of this work, we have sought the views of our membership through an online survey. The survey received over 1000 responses from members around the country and the key results are summarised as follows:
Do you believe individuals residing on the island of Ireland who are members of Swim Ireland clubs and do NOT hold Irish citizenship/an Irish passport or were NOT born on the island of Ireland (but meet identified residency requirements) should be eligible to win Irish National titles/claim Irish National Medals?
No – 485 (45.2%) Yes – 587 (54.8%)
Do you believe individuals residing on the island of Ireland who are members of Swim Ireland clubs and do NOT hold Irish citizenship/an Irish passport or were NOT born on the island of Ireland should be eligible to claim Irish National Records?
No – 626 (58.4%) Yes – 446 (41.6%)
Taking on board the feedback received through the survey, the Steering Group proposed the following rule change to residency requirements for National Championship Medals to the Board of Swim Ireland, which has now been approved.
Provide evidence of residency in line with the following:
- i. An athlete under 18 years of age – 12 months primary residence on the island of Ireland immediately before the first day of competition for the respective Irish National Championship event.
- ii. An athlete 18 years or older – 36 months primary residence on the island of Ireland immediately before the first day of competition for the respective Irish National Championship event.
Primary Residence is defined as the place or country where the competitor ‘lives and sleeps’ and where he/she can be found in the majority of the days of the year.
The Steering Group discussed the duration of residency at length and believe that an appropriate term of residency to claim eligibility would be 3 years. However, it was believed that it would be supportive and aligned to Swim Ireland’s Inclusivity & Diversity Policy to offer further support to our younger athletes. The Steering Group and, subsequently, the Board discussed and agreed the following:
- We feel this further supports younger athletes who are part of an Irish club day in and day out, athletes who have moved here from abroad with their family and call Ireland their home.
- This allows clubs to utilise their leading athletes who are involved in the club on a day to day basis to compete as an “Irish” club relay team.
- The timeline and process are aligned to the World Aquatics Change of residency law. This law has recently been updated and requires athletes to observe a waiting period and uninterrupted residency of 3 years prior to his/her first senior international competition and 1 year for junior international competition.
- This is aligned to the member survey feedback received
There will be no changes to the Eligibility rule for National Records as outlined above. This was in line with the feedback received through the member survey and, as such, will remain unchanged.
The Competitions Steering Group will now work on the final wording for the eligibility policy, which will circulated to clubs and will come into force from the 1st of January 2024.