Sport Ireland Carding 2022 - 2024

The Sport Ireland International Carding Scheme is a central part of the high performance system in Ireland. Sport Ireland are the Irish sports council established by the Irish Government tasked with promoting and developing sport at all levels in the country including at performance, national and international level.

Swim Ireland manage and administer the athlete carding scheme which supports selected athletes to deliver on Swim Ireland’s performance vision and goals. The scheme is a selection process whereby athletes must achieve performance criteria laid out within a Selection Policy to be considered for membership to the programme.

Carding in 2024 was awarded to 3 swimmers and 3 divers, with pool funding received for three relay teams.

You can find the Sport Ireland International Carding Scheme criteria for 2022-2024 here

 

2025-2028 Documents

Diving Carding Review Approval Process 2025-2028

Swimming Carding Review Approval Process 2025-2028

Irish Eligibility for Swimming & Diving - April 2024

As the National Governing Body for swimming, diving, and water polo (and associated aquatic sports) in Ireland (including Northern Ireland), Swim Ireland’s policy and their associated rules as to who is eligible to:

  1. Compete in an Irish National Championships and claim an Irish National medal in swimming and/or diving;
  2. Claim an Irish Junior or Senior Record in swimming and/or diving;
  3. Represent Ireland in an international competition in swimming and/or diving

are all aligned to two key sets of rules and/or conditions:

  1. Those written and prescribed to all nations by World Aquatics (WA), the world governing body for aquatic sports;
  2. Those written and prescribed by the Government of Ireland

An amendment to the ‘Swim Ireland Rule Book for Clubs, Members & Affiliates (Section 7)’ was approved by the Board of Swim Ireland in November 2023. Within this, the rules clearly state who is and who is not eligible to claim and/or benefit from points a – c listed above, and the Rule Book parallels the rules and requirements of both World Aquatics and the Irish Government in this sense. Swim Ireland National Championships and Competitions may adopt additional meet conditions which do not contravene the Swim Ireland Rule Book but add to or embellish these rules

The Swim Ireland Performance department do not and will not actively recruit athletes from outside of the island of Ireland (swimming and diving) who may be eligible to represent Ireland. However, when such an athlete contacts Swim Ireland of their own volition, the Performance department do provide guidance to such persons in terms of:

  1. Whether they are a citizen of Ireland or whether they have the right to apply to be a citizen of Ireland. To be a citizen of Ireland, such a person must be able to state and prove one of the following:
    • That they were born on the island of Ireland, or
    • That one or both of their parents were born on the island of Ireland, or
    • That one or both of their grandparents were born on the island of Ireland, or
    • That they can claim citizenship through naturalisation
  2. Whether they hold a current Irish passport or whether they have the right to apply for an Irish passport
  3. Whether they are registered with an Irish swimming club
  4. Whether they are eligible to compete in Irish Regional or National domestic competitions and which competitions are mandatory for potential selection to the National Programme and/or a National Teams
  5. And, as such, whether they are therefore eligible to represent the nation of Ireland. In respect to international representation, an athlete must hold an Irish passport at the point that entries are made to the competition’s organising body

If an athlete is eligible to compete for more than one nation, he/she may choose which nation to represent, and their sport nationality is established at the occasion of their first international selection. Until they represent Ireland, they can choose to compete in the national championships in any of their eligible nations.

Any athlete who has previously represented another nation at senior competition must observe a waiting period of three years between the last representation of the previous nation and the first representation for Ireland and have uninterrupted residence on the island of Ireland during this period. If an athlete has previously represented a nation at junior competition, the waiting period and residency is reduced to one year.

Swim Ireland do not prejudice Irish eligibility in regards to any athlete based on their gender, disability/impairment, marital status, political and/or religious belief/activity, sexual orientation, ethnicity and/or gender identity and follow the very same principle in not prejudicing Irish eligibility in regards to any athlete based on their place of residence, place of birth and/or accent.

Therefore, if an athlete meets the above requirement and achieves the relevant standards to represent Ireland, or claim an Irish National medal or claim an Irish Record (Swim Ireland Rules 7.2 – 7.6) and are willing to adhere to our ethos, then they will be welcome to do so

No. Athletes will still have to satisfy World Aquatics rulings before they are eligible to compete.

Yes, the eligibilty rules apply to all aquatic disciplines.

World Aquatics rules dictate that athletes may only declare for one Federation. Athletes that have represented another Country or National Federation must satisfy World Aquatics rules before declaring for Ireland.

For further information please contact the Swim Ireland Performance Department by emailing niamhmcdonnell@swimireland.ie. Additional information is also available on the World Aquatics website, www.worldaquatics.com