Swimming

About Swimming

Swimming has become one of Ireland's leading Olympic sports in the modern era, delivering its most celebrated breakthrough at Paris 2024: Daniel Wiffen won gold in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 1500m freestyle, Ireland's first ever Olympic swimming medals for a man, while Mona McSharry won bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

Ireland's Olympic swimming history stretches back further, most notably through Michelle Smith, who won three golds and a bronze at Atlanta 1996, though her career was later marked by a doping-related ban. Swimming at the Olympics is contested in a 50m pool across freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, at distances from 50m sprints to the 1500m distance freestyle, together with individual medley and relay events.